MS-763: Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman Collection, 1930-2004. Series I: Wexner Heritage Foundation, 1947-2004. Subseries 1: General Files, 1949-2004.
Box Folder 63 14
Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project. 1995-2000, undated.
For more information on this collection, please see the finding aid on the American Jewish Archives website.
3101 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220 513.487.3000 AmericanJewishArchives.org The We.'<.ller Heritage Foundation 551 Maaison Avenu .. New York. New York 10022 212 355 6115 Fax 2·2 751 r39 Henry & Bella Tovey 1004 S. Belgrade Road SilverSpring, 110 20902
November 10, 2000
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Tovey,
Thank you for responding to our letter about sendiing your story to the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at the World Jewish Congress. I am writing to you to confirm that we received both ofyour speeches and we will forward them to the World Jewish Congress in your names. This is an important project that will help preserve the testimonies of you and other survivors, so the lessons learned and the people who perished during the Holocaust are never forgotten.
Both of you have very inspiring stories. It is amazing that after all that you both went threw, the ghettos, cattle cars, and concentration camps, that you found a belief in Judaism and G-d. I am sure that your journey back to Judaism was an extremely difficult struggle. Through survivors written testimonies like both of yours, we will forever have eyewitness accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust and learn from it so nothing like the Holocaust will ever happen again.
Again, we want to thank you for sharing your story. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to call me, Jamie Goldberg, Rabbi Herbert Friedman's assistant, at 212-3,55-6115. You may also contact Ms. Yudin at the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at 914-722-1880.
I hope you and your family are having a happy and healthy New Year.
B' Shalom,
Jamie Goldberg A note.from Henri & Bella T~vey N.:>vC/J..~
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{f I 'N?.5 I icera{~d trorn i:oncentrJt ion camo Woebb~ 1in Dy Uw 8~n<' - trt)ornie- 01v1s1on or the un1tetj Stat~~- Army on the third or r-1~y . 1945 ~ 1jnJy, 1 a1ctn't 1 ~vai:uat~ 1j 'vl;:; v... 1 s-rt:- put on tra111::. , i:att le trams, 1jf cc,ursi:-. 1:rry,1..: :ti:1j l 1i~ i: sardmes ir. 3 can. W.:: wer~ tat ~n first to trte- Herman r)cerring W ·:. ~rk. e 1 was I it1i;ratt-a from ccncentration camp ~v0~bt1e I ir, t·Y th':? 8~n•j - 1rb0rni; D1v1310n of th~ 1Jn1tc•J States :..rrny 1::-n ti·,.;- th1rt1 of May, 19-!5 if Only, I tjjrjn't l "Yo1J could srn ell the W::-et,belin concentration .:amp lone... b~fore y0u could see 1t. And seeing 1t was more than a human t:ein9 could stand. Even after three years of wJr 1t brought t~ars to my ey-:-3. "There "Ner~ hundreds of dead about tt·,e grounds and in tr·-: tarpaper covi:red shac ~ · s . In the corner 0f tr11: stoc~: ade was an at 3ndoned qu.Jrry into wh1ch the 1jaily staci-:s of cadavers i.vere bulld1:z:d It was obvious they could not tell the livlng from the dead "Llving skelHons were scattered about, the I ivlng dt 3t1fl]Uished from the dead only by their somewhat greenish sk.in, m contr a5t to the blue-black ~·k in of the dead. u WI was liberated from concentration camp Woet!belin by the 82nd .:..irborne Division of the Um ted States A.rmy on the third of !"lay, 1945. t\> Only, I 1jidn 1t know ir.. \\ Y0u se~ . I didn't ~· now it because I was one of the living s.k.eleton; d1strngu1shable from the dead only by the somP.what gr.::eni sh col :ir of their skm LIVING TIIROUGH 1HE HOLOCAUST For many years after the war I found it impossible to address a group of people and to talk about my experiences during the holocaust Oh, sometimes i would talk to my very close friends, sometimes i would answer questions asked by my children. I would even say something to my students in the class when there was a compelling reason. Other than that, I just couldn't talk about it. This changed when i became aware that the truth about the holocaust was being denied. And not just by some individual extremists, but in an organized, systematic manner. And not just by the Liberty Lobby or the Historical Review, but by apparently respectable people, such as Dr. Butz, a history professor at Northwestern University. Dr. Butz wrote "The Hoax of the Twentieth Century," in which be called the holocaust a hoax that was carefully orchestrated to spread the false rumor lb.at six million Jewish m~ women, and children were killed by the Nazis. That I could no longer tolerate. I felt that in a small way I can fight these deliberate lies. I felt that I owe it to my mother, my father, my little sister and brother, who perished in Auschwitz, that I speak out So, I want to share with you some of my experiences and some of my thoughts. And if one day you he.ar somebody questioning the reality of the holocaust, or bear somebody speaking disrespectfully about the six million, I hope you will remember what I am about to tell you. I was born in Poland. l was thirteen years old when the war broke out. I was foolish enough to be glad, because l didn,t have to go back to school I grew up very quickly,. The Germans occupied Sosnowiec on the third of September, the third day of the war. After alll, it was near U1e German border. They took the city without a shot; the tanks just rolled into our streets and that was that There were the expected things in the beginning. Decrees after decrees, curfews, bread lines. You couldn't get food, everything was closed. Funny, my mother tried to buy food after we came back from the country. We were gone all summer and returned just a week before the war broke out, and our cupboards wee bare. But all she could get was what used to be expensive delicacies, fancy chocolates, canned caviar, pickled vegetables, but no bread, no flour, no eggs. It was so shocking being hungry for a piece of bread so soon ..... A few days after the Gennans occupied our city they rounded up all the Jewish men. They came into our apartments (most of us lived in large apartment buildings), forced us into the courtyard, and took the men away. I am not sure how long my father was gone. It was probably not more -2- than a week. My father was only 39 years oid then, he had a head of auburn hair. When he came back he was gray. He never talked about what happened dwing the week. All we knew was that we were lucky that be crune back, because some men didn't come back. But we thought - or so I was told by my parents - that this is what happens when a country is occupied. They try to put the fear of God into the hearts of the general population. Many non-Jews were also taken away. Some never came back. And of course, we knew that the Jewish people were singled out for special treatment - only we didn't know what treatment... It was so gradual. They put a German overseer into our factory, and my father worked there. That was helpful, we got ration cards. One day someone knocked on our front door. A woman, and two SS-men. They walked through our apartment She turned to the SS-men and said: "lch babe's geme; alles!" I like it; all of it! The next day a moving van came. They took all our furniture. We lived in what was then called an open ghetto. But we were not allowed into the main streets, we had curfews, we wore the Star of David. There was little food. we were hungry. We were always hungry. People started to disappear. At first, young men and women. They were taken to Germany, to labor camps. This wasn't so bad- families received mail occasionally, we .knew where they were. But then, evacuations started. I know now that the word "evacuation" was an euphemism for something that was too terrible to call by its right name. By then we were in a closed ghetto and there was no contact with the outside world. There were rumors about all kinds of terrible things, I but how could we believe them? We were still together, our family was still intact . One day my father came home and told us about a conversation he had with Moniek Merin, the Head of our ghetto. Moliliek Merin worked briefly for my father before the war, but during the war, when he became the Head of the ghetto, my father had very little contact with him. That day Merin had told him to come in and offered him the job of a militiaman The militiamen in our ghetto were responsible for maintaining order, of course, and they were the ones who were also rounding up people for labor camps and evacuations. My father looked at Merin and said to him: "How can you ask me to do this']" "Aaron', said Merin, "if you become a militiaman you will have a better chance to stay on in the ghetto". After all, the evacuations are moving slowly, and there is a war going on. This was may end in a month, in three months, in a half a year. The longer you can keep your family together and stay here, the better your chances." I don't know what else Merin told my father. I don't know what Merin knew - he did have contacts with the SS-men, and there were :so many rumors... But my father was a very traditional and a very believing man, and Merin knew that. He finally became exasperate - I guess he wanted to help my -3- father, he liked him - and he said, "Look Aaron, there are horrible things going on, and if you won1t do it someone else will, and I won't have to spend time pleading with others, And for heaven's sake, it's your God who is watching it and is not lifting a finger to help, it is your God that is doing it!" And my father answered, "I don't know who is doing it, but if it is God then I will not be His Malach Hamavet" If it is God, I will not be his angel of death. Shortly thereafter I was taken away from home and was sent to a labor camp. For a half a year there was contact between our camp and the ghetto. During that time I found out that my younger sister was also sent to a labor camp. And then the labor camp was changed to a satellite of the Gross Rosen concentration camp, and mail from the ghetto stopped coming. It was at this time, I found out later, that our ghetto was liquidated... We worked in a flax processing plant The Nazis used us to replace the Gennan workers who werFe sent to the front We worked 12 hours a day, one week on a day shift, one on a night shift One day, a particularly cold winter day~ l was working the night shift We started working at six in the afternoon and at midnight we had a short breaa.and got our soup. The soup was ladled out of a pot in which it came from the camp by the girl who was in charge. Her name was Salka, and she was lovely. She studied music in Italy before the war and she bad a beautiful voice, a. sweet soprano. Often, after we got our soup we would all sit around her, huddled together to keep warm. Sometimes we would be quiet, sometimes we would talk, sometimes Salka would sing. That night we sat very close to each other. And then Salka started to sing. She sang Schubert's Serenade. She sang it so beautifully, with so much feeling. We forgot where we were. We were in a different world, a world filled with flowers and sunshine - it felt so good, so warm to hear her sing ... Suddenly we realized that we were not alone. One of the SS-men was standing very close to where we were sitting. I twned my head ever so slightly and saw that he was looking at Salka with absolute rapture! Sallca stopped singing. It got terribly quiet. A minute or two passed. And then, the SS-man walked over to where Sallca was sitting, pulled her up by her hair, shook her, and started to slap her on her face, right, left, right, left, beating her, shouting, screaming "You have no right to sing like this, you have no rig!ht to look like this, you filthy, dirty Jew!" In 1944, late in November, we were evacuated from Graeben. Rumors had it that the Russians were near the border. We walked for days, and then were put into cattle trains. I don't know how long we were on those cattle trains. We ended up in Bergen-Belsen. Bergen-Belsen was a death camp. There were no gas chambers, -4- they were not needed. There was filth and lice, hunger and typhus. We were packed in a barrack. There was only straw on the floor. We sat with our legs bent so chat oor knees touched our chins, because there was so little room. But this dido 't last long. After only a few days there was room. Some of us started to die. We had to cany dead bodies and throw them on a big pile of bodies next to the oven. I never looked at the faces ... Frieda Ringler was my camp sister. We met in Graeben. She was Ci.ech. We were very close and we shared everything we had. Sometimes one of us would get an extra bowl of soup. If the other wasn't there we would very carefully mark the half.:.level in the bowl, to leave for the other. I remember I'd eat my portion, eating slower and slowex as I was getting closer and closer to Frieda's half. It was so difficult I never gave Frieda one spoonful of my half. But I never gave her one less than what was coming to her. I few days after we came to Bergen Belsen a young woman came to otn" barrack looking for Tilla Ringler. Tilla Ringler was Frieda's older sister. She bad left home with a Zionist group trying to get to Palestine, and Frieda didn't know what happened to her. We later found out she ended up in Auschwitz. The young woman who was looking for Tilla bad survived Auschwitz. She was saved from the gas chambers by Frieda's sister, and she remembered it Now she belonged to the lucky ones in Bergen Belsen. She had a job, she had a bunk, she was dressed, she bad more food. Frieda approached her and said: "I am Tilla's younger sister. what do you know about Ttlla'?" The woman took one look at Frieda and said "My God, you look exactly like Ttlla, you sound like her! I owe Tilla my life, so I am going to try to save yours. I am going to take you out of here right now!" Frieda. turned towards me and said "You have to take Bella, too. We are like sisters. I cannot go without her. ., The woman looked at me and at Frieda - she was hardened by now, there was nothing soft about her - and said sharply: "I will take you! you alone. Your friend means nothing to me. Either you come alone or you can die together with her." Frieda just stood there. l told Frieda to go. I said "You cannot help me by staying here with me. If you go maybe you will be able to help me, so please go and save yourself." Frieda became a "runner" in the hospital that was a part of the "working camp." It wasn't easy to come to see me~ but she tried. Sometimes she brought me some bre.a~ some potatoes. I was covered with lice. Every morning I would shake out my clothes. but a few hours later I was covered with them ~ain. I was a walking skeleton. I had typhus, then typhoid I don't know how I kept going ... One day Frieda came to see me. She managed to get me into a working barrack. I got a bunk -5 - which I shared with another girl But it was too late for me. Actually, I mar.aged to work a week or so - that meant a soup a day, regulaiiy - but then I got sick again. This time it was paratyphoid. These were the last days of the war. The Gennans knew i l Whatever food there was in the camp, they now withheld. There was no food, no water. 1 was too sick to know and to care. Most of the time I was feverish and unconscious... One night Frieda came. She didn't see me for over a week and she knew something was wrong. It wasn't safe anymore to cross from one part of the camp to another - the SS-men were roaming around inside the camp and shooting. Frieda knew that it wasn't safe but she felt that she must come, she sensed, she told me later, that something was wrong. She brought me water. She kept giving me water ~d she kept washing my face. She sat with me all nigh_l That morning the British came into Bergen Belsen. We were liberated After the war I bad a Din Torah with God. I couldn't forgive Him for the Shoah. I didn't want to have anything to do with God. I no longer had faith, I no longer had religion. r even contemplated giving up being Jewish, but I couldn't do it I couldn't hand Hitler that kind of a victory. Time passed. In 1959 I went to Israel for the first time. l went to the Galli, to the Kibbutzim. I saw ancient Safed. I walked the streets of Jerusalem. I walked into a synagogue. Later, when I came back from Ura.el, I decided to study Torah, to study Hebrew. I needed to know what made my father - I loved my tu.ther very much - into the kind of person who didn't want to become God's Angel of Death, even if that would save him and his family. What made me not to cheat on Frieda when I was so hungry and so tempted. What made so many of us behave humanly when we were stripped of all tha! was human. I read what Jur Rabbis taught through the many centuries:. I read what our modern scholars wrote. I read Jewish history, Jewish philosophy. I didn't look for answers or explanations for the Holocaust I knew that these cannot be found But I found an answer for me about God and Au~hwitz. For me the answer is that God was not in Auschwitz, and Goo didn't create Auschwitz. Long ago God told us what was wrong and what was right Long ago God gave us the freedom to do good or to do evil. Long ago God gave us the freedvm to choose to respect life, to love life, or to destroy live. The l fazis chose to murder innocent men, women, and children. The Nazis tried - 6 - to destroy us, and our Goel We were helpless, and perhaps God was helpless. too, and cried with us. I . r I IA l IA. w\-tc.. , I Herbert A. Friedman 551 Mao:s(Yl .:. . .,nu~ :?·nss s··:i Ni;:-,\ "'OI lo. "-'91.'. YQr• 10022 Fa, 212 75· 3739 Henry & Bella Tovey ~ l 004 S. Belgrade Road Silver Spring. MD 20902 March 28, 2000 Dear Mr. & Mrs. Tovey, Than.ks for sending me the speeches you gave at the Washington Hebrew Congregation: They were splendid because of the detail in which you described what happened to you. As I read them 1 could feel some of your pain, agony and fear. Three times Henry said he was liberated but he didn' t know it Then he explained in one sentence that he was a greenish living skeleton. It was a powerful literary symbol. Bella's paper began with a Holocaust denier, which made her determined to fight "'these deliberate lies". (The recent trial in London involving a Holocaust denier will end with a judgement on Aprit 12.) And Bella's search for God's relationship to the Shoah was so honest, so touching, as were the examples of her realationship to her father and to Freida, which were enough to bring tears. Many books have been written about the Holocaust by great scholars; many museums have been erected; many conferences have been convened, the latest in Sweden. There is great awareness in the world about Hitler' s's war to eradicate the Jewish people. But all this activity becomes r,eaJ only when one student, one teenager, one person :reads the story of what happened to another one, a victim. Your story wiH make it easier for us to communicate the horror and the lessons to the next generation. The slogan "Never Again" is abstract ~ your personal experience is concrete. Thank you again for responding in your own words. Sincerely yours, ~A . r~~ Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman f-e I,"'"""-"! }S ~ . I """"" ! Q.... of ~ ~"' ~o "'-"'-£ ~ G..'.>v.. ~-~~:. 50 '-"'e~ "~ .t..,t 1 ~ 'l .:\QM.{- -1-o ":>Q~ .uvJ: ~ v_, cwv. <:..'9Cl{~t '<\-,·.,"' W6-.S V~ '""'""''1. l. """"' s ~1 13"' .\ w o ¥ .._~ \-\e ~~e ~ Ce~ '°'\R..~.o.....\.'1"'-'~ 0 \\.....c.. o ~ \. s ~ WLL IAA ~ IM--slo J , H~ ' f ..,/(_ ~ -'>WL \e,.._~ le. ' it.< lq_ q_:> "'-~ ~ ':7 I'.> \e... A"',,.,; v <.J1..-l., ""\ " y ~ e...... d?. "'t- \.Jo.,_Q :e I l vt 1-e \,' so ... \-lQ.v<.f C.01<~~<-<- 1.M.e~ ~_t...t 1 ~ f ~o 'O>Q'&- M ~ oWl. .., .,. "' <:.<>"' -1....::. t~ l-i· ""' w..__ ~ "~ '""' ,, " •. . 1 t l9\ ~~ 1 \~vc. "'-{- o\N\.. T~f\~ 1 TVJ... l-J&..s\M\-\.ol-1 \-\e~~e:~ Ce~~~-L-h° .?\.-\ a l\,vc_ o ~ \ 5> \9\. ~ ""'~ IM,, s \o .,J' H~ I f "-" <... t>..t- '9 Wt. le....-.~ le. I i \,I i 'l '1..:> ~ ~ '7 I? \.€,. A"'~ v HT's ta II· at WHC's 50th Anniversary of (he end of ww2 r-1ay 5, 1995 If I was I 1bP.rared trorn concentration camp Woebbel in oy the B~no r"Jrl)ornE D1v1s1on of the united States Army on the third of May, 1945 ff> Only. I 01dn't know 1t I was born in Lodz, in Poland. Exactly one weet< after the war Dr evacuated. We were out on trains, cattle trains, of coursE, crow·je1j rn~e sardines in a can. We were taken first to the Herman Goerring Woi;rk.e (spelling?i camp, and then to Ravvensbrueck (spelling?). There \I\' ':: w~re tolr:I we ar~ being ·:.ent to Luebec (spelling ?), a port on the Baltic sea, wi-.:-re- w1e ·wi I l be rele3sed t o the Red Cross and s~r1t to Sweden. Nobody belii:ved tt·,at. The rumor had it that they were going t o put us on an old ship and sin ~. it. Later we found out that tri1 s was in fact standard operating procedure for tr1e 5~ at the end of the war, to elimlnati; as many witnesses to their crimes as t11ey i:ould. As it turned out, neither scenario played out. Thi; tracks ahead o ~ our train were L1ombed, and it had to stop. We were ordered out and maicr·-:-d t0 the near~st camp. It was concentration camp Woebb~lin I was liberated from concentration camp Woebbel in by the 82n1j ~ irb'irne Division of the United States Army on the third of !"lay, l 945. (1' 0nly, I didn't know it (fWoebbelin. unlike Auschwitz, had no long history. It was establ~:; hed just a few n1(1nths before we came in. But while it dld not have the gas chambers and crematc1ria of Auschwitz, it was a very efficient death camp just the same As general Gavin, the Commanding Officer of t he 82nd Airborne put lt, "You could smell the Woebbelln concentrati0n camp long before you could see it. And seeing 1t was more than a human being could stanrJ. Even after three years of war it brought tears to my e)'t'S. "There were hundreds of dead about the grounds and in trir: tarpaper covere1j shacks. In the corner of the stockade was an atiandoned quarry into which the daily stacks of cadavers were bulldozed. lt was obvious they could not te 11 the living from the dead. "Living skeletons were scattered about, the living di5tingu1st1ed frnm ~ . . the dead only by their somewhat greenish sk1n, in contrast to the blue-black skin of the dead. " W I was liberated from concentration camp Woebbelin by the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army on the thlrd of !"lay, 19-45. ~ Only , I didn't know it. t You see, I didn't know it because I was one or the living s.keleton:; distinguishable from the dead only by the somewhat greenish col :ir of t heir skin. LNING TIIROUGH THE HOLOCAUST For many years after the war I found it impossible to address a group of people and to talk about my experiences during the holocaust Oh, sometimes i would talk to my very close friends, sometimes i would answer questions asked by my children. I would even say something to my students in the class when there was a compelling reason. Other than that, I just couldn't talk about it. This changed when i became aware that the truth about the holocaust was being denied. And not just by some individual extremists, but in an organired, systematic manner. And not just by the Liberty Lobby or the Historical Review, but by apparently respectable people, such as Dr. Butz, a history professor at Northwestern University. Dr. Butz wrote "The Hoax of the Twentieth Century,,, in which be called the holocaust a hoax that was carefully oo;bestrated to spread the false rumor that six million Jewish men, women, and children were killed by the Nazis. That I could no longer tolerate. I felt that in a small way I can fight these deliberate lies. I felt that I owe it to my mother, my father, my little sister and brother, who perished in Auschwitz, that I speak out So, I want to share with you some of my experiences and some of my thoughts. And if one day you hear somebody questioning the reality of the holocaust, or hear somebody speaking disrespectfully about the six millio~ I hope you will remember what I am about to tell you. I was born in Poland. I was thirteen years old when the war broke out. I was foolish enough to be glad, because 1 dido 't have to go back to school. I grew up very quickly,. The Germans occupied Sosnowiec on the third of September, the third day of the war. After all, it was near the German border. They took the city without a shot; the tanks just rolled into our streets and that was that There were the expected things in the beginning. Decrees after decrees, curfews, bread lines. You couldn't get food, everything was closed. Funny, my mother tried to buy food after we came back from the COWltry. We were gone all summer and returned just a week before the war !broke out, and our cupboards wee bare. But all she could get was what used to be expensive delicacies, fancy chocolates, canned caviar, pickled vegetables, but no bread, no flour, no eggs. It was so shocking being hungry for a piece of bread so soon. .... A few days after the Germans occupied our city they rounded up all the Jewish men. They came into our apartments (most of us lived in large apartment buildings), fomed us into the courtyard, and took the men away. I am not sure how long my father was gone. It was probably not more -2- than a week. My father was onJy 39 years old then, he had a head of auburn hair. When he came back he was gray. He never talked about what happened during the week. All we knew was that we were lucky that be came back, be.cause some men didn't come back. But we thought - or so I was told by my parents - that this is what happens when a country is occupied. They try to put the fear of God into the hearts of the general population. Many non-Jews were also taken away. Some never came back. And of course, we knew that the Jewish people were singled out for special treatment - only we didn't know what treatment... It was so gradual. They put a German overseer into our factory, and my father worked there. That was helpful, we got ration cards. One day someone knocked on our front door. A woman, and two SS-men. They walked through our apartment She turned to the SS-men and said: "Ich habe's geme; alles!" I like it; all of it! The next day a moving van crune. They took all our furniture. We lived in what was then called an open ghetto. But we were not allowed into the main streets, we had curfews, we wore the Star of David There was little food we were hungry. We were always hungry. People started to disappear. At first, young men and women. 1bey were taken to Germany, to labor camps. This wasn't so bad - families received mail occasionally, we knew where they were. But then, evacuations started. I know now that the word "evacuation" was an euphemism for something that was too terrible to call by its right name. ·ay then we were in a closed ghetto and there was no contact with the outside world There were rumors about all kinds of terrible things, ' but how could we believe them? We were still together; our family was still intact . One day my fat.her came home and told us about a conversation he had with Moniek Merin, the Head ofour ghetto. Moniek Merin. worked briefly for my father before the war, but during the war, when he became the Head of the ghetto, my father had very little contact with him. 'That day Merin had told him to come in and offered him the job of a militiaman. The militiamen in our ghetto were responsible for maintaining order, of course,. and they were the ones who were also rounding up people for labor camps and evacuations.. My father looked.at Merin and said to him: "How can you ask me to do this?" "Aaron', said Merin, "ifyou become a militiaman you will have a better chance to stay on in the ghetto". After all, the evacuations are moving slowly, and there is a war going on. This was may end in a month, in three months, in a half a year. The longer you can keep your family together and stay here, the better your chances." I don't know what else Merin told my father. I don't know what Merin knew - he did have contacts with the SS-men, and there were so many rumors... But my father was a very traditional and a very believing man, and Merin knew that He finally became exasperate - I guess he wanted to help my -3- father, he liked him - and he said, "Look Aaron, there are horrible things going on, and if you won't do it someone else will, and 1 won't have to spend time pleading with others, And for heaven's sake, it's your God who is watching it and is not lifting a finger to heJp, it is your God that is doing it!" And my father answered, "I don't know who is doing it, but if it is God then I will not be His Malach Hamavet" If it is God, I will not be his angel of death. Shortly thereafter I was taken away from home and was sent to a labor camp. For a half a year there was contact between our camp and the ghetto. During that time I foWld out that my yoWlger sister was also sent to a labor camp. And then the labor camp was chan.ged to a satellite of the Gross Rosen concentration camp, and mail from the ghetto stopped coming. It was at this time, I found out later, that our ghetto was liquidated... We worked in a flax processing plant The Nazis used us to replace the German workers who werFe sent to the front. We worked 12 hours a day, one week on a day shift, one on a night shift One day, a particularly cold winter day, I was working the night shi~ We started working at six in the afternoon and at midnight we bad a short breactand got our soup. The soup was ladled out of a pot in which it came from the camp by the girl who was in charge. Her name was Salka, and she was lovely. She studied music in Italy before the war and she had a beautiful voice, a sweet soprano. Often, after we got our soup we would all sit around her, huddled together to keep warm. Sometimes we would be quiet, sometimes we would talk, sometimes Salka would sing. That night we sat very close to each other. And then Salka started to sing. She sang Schubert's Serenade. She sang it so beautifully, with so much feeling. We forgot where we were. We were in a different world, a world filled with flowers and sunshine - it felt so good, so warm to hear her sing ... Suddenly we realized that we were not alone. One of the SS-men was standing very close to where we were sitting. I turned my head ever so slightly and saw that he was looking at Salka with absolute rapture! Salka stopped singing. It got terribly quiet A minute or two passed. And then, the SS-man walked over to where Salka was sitting, pulled her up by her hair, shook her, and started to slap her on her face, right, left, right, left, beating her, shouting, screaming "You have no right to sing like this, you have no right to look like this, you filthy, dirty Jew!" In 1944, late in November, we were evacuated from Graeben. Rumors had it that the Russians were near the border. We walked for days, and then were put into cattle trains. l don't know bow long we were on those cattle trains. We ended up in Bergen-Belsen. Bergen-Belsen was a death camp. There were no gas chambers, -4- they were not needed There was filth and lice, hunger and typhus. We were packed in a barrack. There was only straw on the floor. We sat with our legs bent so that our knees touched our chins, be.cause there was so Iittle room. But this didn't last long. After only a few days there was room. Some of us started to die. We bad to carry dead bodies and throw them on a big pile of bodies next to the oven. I never looked at the faces ... Frieda Ringler was my camp sister. We met in Graeben. She was Czech. We were very close and we shared everything we bad. Sometimes one of us would get an extra bowl of soup. If the other wasn't there we would very carefully mark the half-level in the bowl, to leave for the other. I remember I'd eat my porti~ eating slower and slower as I was getting closer and closer to Frieda's half. It was so difficult I never gave Frieda one spoonful of my half. But I never gave her one less than what was coming to her. I few days after we came to Bergen Belsen a young woman came to our barrack looking for Tilla Ringler. Tilla Ringler was Frieda's older sister. She had left home with a Zionist group trying to get to Palestine, and Frieda didn't know what happened to her. We later found out she ended up in Auschwitz. The young woman who was looking for Tilla bad surviv,ed Auschwitz. She was saved from the gas chambers by Frieda's sister, and she remembered it Now she belonged to the lucky ones in Bergen Belsen. She had a job, she had a bunk, she was dressed, she had more food. Frieda approached her and said: "I am Tilla's younger sister. what do you know about Tilla'1,. The woman took one look at Frieda and said "My God, you look exactly like Tilla, you sound like her! I owe Tilla my life, so I am going to try to save yours. I am going to take you oot of here right now!" Frieda turned towards me and said "You have to take Bella, too. We are like sisters. I cannot go without her.,. The woman looked at me and at Frieda - she was hardened by now, there was nothing soft about her - and said sharply: "I will take you, you alone. Your friend means nothing to me. Fither you come alone or you can die together with her." Frieda just stood there. I told Frieda to go. I said "You cannot help me by staying here with me. Ifyou go maybe you will be able to help me, so please go and save yourself." Frieda became a "numer" in the hospital that was a part of the "working camp." It wasn't easy to come to see me, but she tried. Sometimes she brought me some bread, some potatoes. I was covered with lice. Every morning I would shake out my clothes, but a few hours later I was covered with them again. I was a walking skeleton. I had typhus, then typhoid I don't know how I kept going•. . One day Frieda came to see me. She managed to get me into a working barrack. I got a bunk -5- which I shared with another girl But it was too late for me. Actually, I managed to work a week or so - that meant a soup a day, regularly - but then I got sick again. This time it was paratyphoid These were the last days of the war. The Gennans knew it Whatever food there was in the camp, they now withheld There was no food, no water. I was too sick to know and to care. Most of the time I was feverish and unconscious. .. One night Frieda came. She didn't see me for over a week and she knew something was wrong. It waso 't safe anymore to cross from one part of the camp to another - the SS-men were roaming around inside the camp and shooting. Frieda knew that it wasn't safe but she felt that she must come, she sensed, she told me later, that something was wrong. She brought me water. She kept giving me water and she kept washing my face. She sat with me all night That morning the British came into Bergen Belsen. We were liberated. After the war I bad a Din Torah with God. I couldn't forgive Him for the Shoah. I didn ,t want to have anything to do with God. I no longer had faith, I no longer had religion. I even contemplated giving up being Jewish, but I couldn't do it I couldn't hand Hitler that kind ofa victory. Time passed. In 1959 I went to Israel for the first time. I went to the Galli, to the Kibbutzim. I saw ancient Safed. I walked the streets of Jerusalem. I walked into a synagogue. Later, when I came back from lsrael, I decided to study Torah, to study Hebrew. I needed to know what made my fattier - I loved my father very much - into the kind of person who didn,t want to, become God's Angel of.Death, even if that would save him and his family. What made me not to cheat on Frieda when I was so hungry and so tempted. What made so many of us behave hurnanl y when we were stripped of all that was human. I read what our Rabbis taught through the many centuries. I read what our modern schol3.rs wrote. I read Jewish history, Jewish philosophy. I dido 't look for answers or explanations for the Holocaust I knew that these cannot be found But I found an answer for me about GO Long ago God told us what was wrong and what was right. Long ago God gave us the freedom to do good or to do evil. Long ago God gave us the freedom to choose to respect life, to love life, or to destroy live. The Nazis chose to murder innocent men, women, and children. The Nazis tried -6- to destroy us, and our God. We were helpless, and perhaps God was helpless, too, and cried with us. . . r> I \I\ l~ I Her ber1 A. Friedmun '-' M.CISCI .t. v'e New Yori\. Ntiw lark 1G0'.:12 Mir. George Oscar Lee 2720 N.E. 183"' Street T.H. #20 Aventura, FL 3 3160 November 7, 2000 Dear George, Thanks for sending me your manuscript which we will send to Ms. Yudin at the World Jewish Congress. You sent me a second copy of your book, Goat for Azazel, but it was inscribed to Mr. Steven Spielberg. I have enclosed the book with this letter. Thanks again and take care. Yours Truly, • Rabbi~ Herbert Fried.man • George Oscar Lee 2720 N.E.183rd St. T .H.#20 Aventura;'l33160 Tel& Fax; 305-937-6224 Nov.24th,2000 E-mail: Siunek@aolcom Rabbi Herbert Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundation 551 Madison Ave. New York City,N. Y .10022 Dear Rabbi: Somehow lately we kept missing each other. Simply we lead very busy lives. At the end of W. W.Il I thought that I can hang up my "spurs" and live happily ever after. Much did I know than tbat we Jews have to face obstacles every day . The present situation in Israel bothers me to no end. Some of the articles in the N. Y. Times rise my blood pres.50re. Hopefully and this Haman will disappear. To put a bit sunshine enclosed please find my latest book" RUSSIAN SAGA". Ifyou liked "Goat for Azazel" you surely will love "Russian Saga" and who knows maybe you'll want additional copies for your organization. Hope that my letter will find you in the best of health. Respectfully yours, GOL:nb Encl book-Russian Saga George Oscar Lee 2no N.E.183rd St T.H.#20 Aventura,FJ .3 3 160 Tel 305-937-6224 : Siunek@aolcom Oct.3 lst,2000 Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundation 551 Madison Ave. N. Y.C. N.Y. 10022 Dear Rabbi; Thank you so very much for you letter dated Oct.26th and your generous offer. Yes,. I have decided to take it and under separate cover I've mailed to your kind attention the following : l ). A copy of my manuscript titled " RUSSIAN SAGA" an eyewitness account of my "adventures'' during the years of I 941-45. Everything of it is 1()()O/o truel've kept it rather a bit condensed. because sometimes I felt that I could spill an ocean of ink on that tragic period of Jewish history. 2). A copy of my book" GOAT FOR AZAZEL" which you are familiar with. May just add that " GOAT" is absolutely historically accurate and characters descnbed were actually people whom I knew and do know to this very day. I also have written a bunch ofshort stories some of which were published by "Forward","Bialys toker Shtime," Dos Yiddisbes Wort"( Poland), "Ziemia Drohobycka" (Poland)both in Polish and Yiddish " Bergen Record" and just got a note that one of my latest story will be published in Jewish Veteran ( J.W.V.) but those plus some of my poems will appear in my next book. However ifyou think that they may be useful for the "Memoirs Project" I'll be honored to submit them By the way my Publisher Xlibris was purchased to some degree by Random House. Hope my letter will find you in the best ofbealth, sincerely and at the same time fondly, Encl. Herbert \ . friedman 551 Mac;sor-. ,...-enue 21.: 355 6115 Ne.·. Yor• Ne;1 'rttk 10022 Fa· :.'':.' 75137Jr.. Mr. George Oscar Lee 'i:f-' 2720 N.E. 183 Street TH-20 Aventura, FL 33160 March 20, 2000 Dear Fire Chief, Thanks for sending me your story. Specific detai~s. such as you recounted, make an abstract term Like "D.P. camp" come alive. Your narrative makes it possible for today's young American Jews to understand what happened 50 years ago I was a US Anny Chaplain who worked in Berlin and Frankfurt, but aJso spent much time in the Munich area We can trade books. 1 ,..,;11 get yours from Amazon (they are back ordered: delivery in four weeks) and you can get mine entitled "Roots of the Future". I can see what kind of writer you are from "The Faith" which you enclosed with your letter Many books have been wrinen about the Holocaust by great scholars, many museums have been erected, many conferences have been convened, the latest in Sweden; and a trial has recently occurred in London wherein a man has denied there ever was a Holocaust. There is great awareness in the world about Hitler's's war to eradicate the Jewish people. But all this activity becomes real only when one student. one teenager, one person reads the story of what happened to another one, a victmm. Your story will make it easier for us to communicate the horror and the lessons to the next generation. The slogan "Never Again" is abstract, your personal experience is concrete. Thank you again for responding in your own words Sincerely yours, l~(,..JI\ , ,-:-/U·eJ_ ~'--" Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman W/f! , r "Te;-.... by ' ~/C, ~ I ((;'c=o~ or c:A/L k I-?~ ;,.. ~1 2-? 'l-0 A/. c /SJ -:? A./ l} T. H _ '-o /?vt ~7:t ~ Fe 3 ? I 6 0 ? µ,r · OSCAR THE FIRE CIDEF 1 *********************** J 01--f'3 r-6z""Ly My wife Leah and I were only to glad to participate in the" LIFE REBORN" conference sponsored by U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum and its SECOND GENERATION ADVISORY GROUP in association with THE AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITIEE in Washingto~D.C. during January 14-l 7th,2000. The reason was simple enough. Leah spent aJmost 4 years in D.P.Camp Feldafing,being busy with the freshly organiz.ed Jewish Theatre" Amcho",which toured all the D.P.C:amps in Bavaria Having an excellent voice all the major roles including Lealy in Dybbuk were hers. While in Washington I have met many friends, some I haven't seen in over 50 years. We had ample time to exchange some of our experiences during our stay in D.P.Camp Foehrenwald -U.N.R.RA.Team #106 near Munich. My friends were curious bow did I become the Fire Chief ofthe camp ? In "vino veritas" but I didn't need the second drink of vodka to tell them how did it all happened : On Oct. I Otb.1945 I arrived in Foehrenwald by Wol:fratshausen from Deutsches Museum in Munich the transfer point ofall Jewish Displaced Persons. Wrth me were my uncle Berl,aunt Dora and their children AJa and Manek Einsied.Jer. After being cooped up in Munich, the one large room for 5 people in Foehrenwald seemed like a palace. The fact that we had to share the bathroom with 2 other families in the same house at Florida Strasse didn't bother me at least. By the way all streets in Foehrenwald were named after the states in U.S.A. I did arrive in Foehrenwakl still wearing my combat boots, my Polish Army pants and my uncle's civilian jacket. that was it .Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I owed a pocket watch. I was 20 years old and all I knew was soldiering. While I barely shaved I was hardened war veteran. The Joint and/or U.N.RR.A. gave us some toilet articles and some canned food. The very next day I took a walk to get myself acquainted with the camp.There were iin the camp still few other nationalities not Jewish. The great majority at that time were Jews, mostly Polish, Hungarian,Rumanian,Litbuanian and Russian. The "linqua franca" of course was Yiddish. My own problem was that while I understood Yiddish I didn't speak it, having been brought up in a Polish speaking fiunily. My parents spoke Yiddish so we the children wouldn't understand. Doesn't that sound familiar even today? As I was walking on Michigan Strasse I heard "FIRE" "FIRE" which I understood immediately. Smoke was coming out ofone of rooms. A swift kick on the door and I was inside the room. The small fire was caused by an electrical owen.1 disconnected the wire and poured some water that I found standing in pail near the oven. That was it. " Isn't there a fire department in the camp ?" I asked a small crowd ofcuriosity seekers. " No" I was told." We don't have it ." Well I said to myself let me than organize one. And without a second to loose I went to the building in center of the camp called" Die Vervaltung" or the " ADMINISTRATION". (2) I told the German secretary Helga (that was her name as I found out later) that I wish to speak with "Herr Direktor" because of the fire. Helga the German and English speaking secretary brought me to meet with "Herr Direktor". It was an American ex-G.I. Henry Cohen of U.N.R.RA. She told him about me extinguishing the fire. This time Mr.Cohen a fellow maybe 4-5 years my senior asked me in broken Yiddish/German : " Was Du brauchen ?" What do you need ? I told him that we would need some hoses and other equipment and above all overalls for my crew. " How many men Du brauchen ?" Not knowing how many I told him 8 just about a small squad in the army. " Very good und was is your name ?" " Oscar " I told him. ' We'll pay you a carton ofcigarettes a week per man" . " I accept". I couldn't believe my luck. A whole carton of American cigarettes ! That was a fomme on the black market. '' Thank you Herr Direktor, I'll hire 8 men and give you the list with their names." I walked out ofthe "Vervaltung's" building holding a carton of Camels the most popular brand. Noticing a group of young men I asked them in Polish if they would like to be firemen. Within minutes I had my men ,6 of whom were Polish Jews, I Chech who understood Polish and one Hungarian who spoke some Chech.. I came back to our "apartment" and announced to my family that I was gainfully employed and gave my aunt the cigarettes.By the end of the day several other young men came to me asking for a job offering me a carton ofcigarettes as a bribe. " Sorry fellows -the jobs are taken but if someone doesn't work out I'll take you in." We found some fire fighting equipment and I started to drill my men,shouting commands in Polish occasionally in Russian ifthey didn't perform to my liking. We grew in experience and I also started to drill the D_P.Jewish Police. We were issued American Army uni.forms and helmets and we looked quite im.presive.Small wonder that each time American V.l.P. would show up in the camp we performed like monkeys in a circus. Among those V .I.P's were Fiorello La Guardia, U.N.R.R.A. 's Chief; British Gen.Al!exander, wearing a regular British uniform without a single decoration and of course " Ike" Gen.Dwight D.Eisenhower, loved by all. Herr Direktor Henry Cohen left and was replaced by a former captain Bernard Robbins a no nonsense officer. By that time I had a workable knowledge of English thanks to a German tutors( both female and male) and belonged to a group ofD.P.'s who were in the administration of the camp. In addition to our regular duties we supervised the sanitation and guarding the movie theatre. lt was during one of those regular meetings taken place mMr.Robbins' office when our D.P.Camp Foehrenwald was surrounded by American Military Police and German Local Polizei It was already second or third time when the German Polizei together with the M.P.'s surrounded our camp looking for "Schwarzhaendlers"- black marketers. A tough looking southern speaking master sergeant brandishing a 45-cahber pistol was .. talking to our Camp Director Mr.Robbins. I couJdn't follow his rapid speech, one wo1rd kept being kept repeated over and over again : ''Kike" and "Kikes". At that time 1 wasn't familiar with that expression. I knew words like:" parszywy Zyd" or" yevreyskaya morda" but oot "kik:e" which Mr.Robbins ofMcCombs Road in the Bronx,N.Y.explained to me later. Suddenly" our" Mr.Robbins grabbed the sergeant by the collar of his shirt and by the seats ofhis pants and threw him down the stairs, yelling" you god damn f...... rebe~ you are speaking about my people, get f.. .. out of here. rm running this outfit and ifyou do not clear this place I'll be on the phone with Ike.'' The sergeant picked himself up walked not so slowly to the parked jeep ,turned around and disappeared on the other side ofthe main gate. Few minutes later we heard the noise of started engines and a fairly large column ofjeeps and trucks moved in the direction of Woftratsbausen. We were never bothered by the M.P.'s again. Mr.Bernard Robbins and I became very good friends. He was most helpful to me and my wife shortly after our arrival in the States in 48. Mr.Robbins whose family was originally Rubinstein died in 1976 ofchronic myolitic leukemia just a year after attending the first reunion of Foehrenwalders after 30 years. which l organized. .. 295 "THE FAITH" '1 Recently, during one of those social functions connected with Shoa services and the celebration of the Independence of the State of ~, I met al} interesting young rabbi of Hungarian descent. ~ If it weren't for his scholarly glasses and a beard, he could' have been easily mistaken for a basketball player, because he was well over 6'3• or 6'4• tall. Talking further with him I discovered that the rabbi, just like my own son, was an attorney at law.and a PhD (philosophy) to boot. 'The rabbi wanted to know ifI was ever in a concentration camp? •Luckily for me rabbi I wasn't, however!J I had the honor to serve with the 1st Polish Army a part of the 2nd White Russian Front.• His second question to me was: •Where are you from'ZW I replied with pride: "From Drohobycz in Galicia.• It seems that Jews in general or rabbis in particular like to ask questions, because he asked me a third question: •1s Drohobycz far from Stanislawow?•. Being Jewish myself I answered the question with a question: •Why do you uk rabbi?• •You see, yesterday I officiated at an unusual burial ceremony of a Polish Jew from the town of Stanislawow. He was 84 years old. Nobody should die younger.· •What is so unusual about a man dying at 84? That is a ripe old age, isn't it rabbi?'". •What was so unusual was his request to be buried in the same striped, pajama-like suit in which he was liberated, rather than the •tachrihem• the traditional burial shrouds of the Orthodox Jews.• "That was a strange request, don't you think so rabbi?" •come to think of it, it wasn't so strange after all. Do you have a minute, mister?" •yes rabbi, I'm listening. Please do call me George.• "OK George. This Jew from Stanislawow, Abraham Zygielbojm, during the war lost his wife and a three year old son. He however, by some miracle, known only to God, survived four concentration camps and was liberated in Buchenwald. After the war he spent 3 years in a D.P. Camp Feldafing in Bavaria, waiting for his visa to the States. Arriving in New York City with $8 in his pockets he promptly landed a job as a cutter at a tie factory on 26th Street in Manhattan, owned by Mr. Spiegel also from Stanislawow. Cutting layers and layers of fabrics to get the absolute maximum of ties was very hard work, as I found out much later. He worked in that factory well past his retirement age of 65. If I'm not mistaken, he worked there till he was 70 and that is when he moved to Florida and joined my congregation. I do know for a fact that he never remarried, although many widows were after him. Every free moment he spent in a library or playing chess with the new Russian immigrants, always immaculately dressed and always wearing a neck tie even on the hottest days. Needless to say he has never missed a morning or evening prayer. Working hard all his life and not being a spendthrift, he saved some money which he ;donated to various Jewish· charitable institutions. I don't have to tell you George, George isn't it? How many of those organizations do exist?" "Didn't he have any relatives at all?• I interrupted the rabbi. •He had a mfdtis cousin's son, on his mother's side in Israel. But the boy , oh I shouldn't call a captain in the •' 296 Israeli Army a boy, was killed during the Yom Kippur War in 73. • •What a pity. So what has happened to Mr. Ztygiclbojm?• •well, all those years that Abe, I used to call him Abe, wo.rked with textiles, must hav~ affected his lungs. What he thought was •just• T .B. was cancer. He was in for a tough ti.me. One day he showed up in my office and gave me a copy of his testament, naming m~ the executomf his last will. It was all legal drawn by a lawyer, another member of my congregation and dllly witnessed. He divided his money to the last 'grosz• or should I say cent. The recipients were his •regutar• charities including our synagogue, but this time there was also money for Cancer Research and a sum of $5.000 for his steady cle$ning lady turned nurse-practitioner a certain Medalaine LeDuc of Haiti. The most important request in that will was to be buried in his •c1ean and well pressed• (those were his own words) concentration camp inmate's striped uniform.• For the love of God, why do you want to do tha1'1 • I asked him over and over again.• •Rebefilul He always called me Rebeniu in Yiddish. You see rm going to be in front of the Highest Judge and I've not always obeyed His commandments, I ate non-kosher and did not always behave myself like a good Jew should. So if God, may Bis name be praised for all the eternity, will throw my sins on one side of the scale, I'll just put my striped uniform on the other scale and who do you think will win, Rebeniu?" •There isn't a shadow of doubt in my mind, th.at you Mr. Abraham Zygielbojm will Wlll. You will go straight to the Garden of Eden, where you'll meet your wife and son.• •Nu, Rebe.niu, you see what I'm try to do? This is my very last chance to be reunited with my Roiscle and my Shloimale. • The rabbi stopped talking lost in his thoughts ..... and I in mine. w~ 7/c.- t; : ~~~ 0[u:u_ k_ 2 7- z.o N.-t /KJ ,u rr r ,t:./ - 'to /Iv~'{:,,. '°"4 F-c s 5 / 6 o / 2~ ~ u CLJA78>1L f 'r &o .a..7 f-' A~ 11t:ed... " WW. 7f /To~ /ll"Vl. a..3 0 ,.., • ~ ~ The Wexner Herit:ige Foundation 55l Madison ,...,erue New Yon<., Ne-.v Yoo 10022 212 355 6115 Fax 212 751 3739 Mr. Leon Shear 2053 Temblethurst Drive South Euclid, OH 44121-3717 November 9, 2000 Dear Mr. Shear, Thank you so much for sending us a copy of the letter and story you sent to Ms. Yudin at the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project. Th.is is an important project that will help preserve the testimonies of you and other survivors, so the lessons learned and the people who perished during the Holocaust are never forgotten. Your story is very inspiring. It is truly amazing that after all that you have been through, four different concentration camps, a ghetto, and an orphanage, you use your experiences to teach others the lessons that can be learned from your life. I think you explained this best at the end of your story, "The only way that evil will triumph again is if good people do nothing. I have vowed never to stand by and let evil triumph again." For those of us who grew up in the United States and were given every opportunity without any struggle, life sometimes can be easily taken for granted. Through testimonies such as your own and other survivors, we, as Jews, can appreciate what we have, especially here in America, and learn from your experiences to never let something like the Holocaust happen agam. Again, we want to thank you for sharing your story. Ifyou have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to call me, Jamie Goldberg, Rabbi Herbert Friedman's assistant, at 212-355-6115. You may also contact Ms. Yudin at the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at 914-722-1880. I hope you and your family are having a happy and healthy New Year. B'Shalom, Jamie Goldberg LEON SHEAR 2053 TEMBLETHURST DRIVE SOUTH EUC.OD, OHIO 44121-3(717 <216) 382-6641 Novembers, 2000 Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project do World Jewish Congress A+tenfion: CharloHe Treprnan Yudin 501 Madison Avenue New Yark, New Yark 10022 Dear Ms. Yudin: I arn a Holocausf survivor. I was a prisoner in four concenirafion carnJ:>s. I was given your name by Rabbi Herberf A Friedman to submit my sfory. I am interested in sharing this with you as I feel thet it is extremely important +o tell the story. I have enclosed a brief history of rny experience. Please contact me at the number above if I can offer you additional information. My History from childhood to liberation to retirement My name is Leon Shear. I was born February 15, 1927 Lazer ben Zvi Yehuda Sl.ejeJ" and Blima Szejei" in the city ofBcdzin. Poland. I have a brother Shiah Wolf Sz.ejer who was born December 25, 1925. My sister Henna S7,ejer was born in 1930. My brother and Tare the sole sorvivoTS of the Holocaust from my immediate family. We lived in a three-bedroom home. My brother and 1 shared a bedroom. My father was a wholesale disllributor of c:alf meat He took orders from the butcher shop. He then ordered the live c:alf from the Non-Jewish Polish farmers. The calves were delivered to a lcosher slaugbterbouse where the calfmeat was slaughtered. My father leased a horse and buggy that delivered the c:alf meat to the butchers. My father worked on weekenm as a stand up comic at a Jewish Theatre caUed the Muza Theatte. The money that was raised from the Theatre was given to charity. r was not allowed to go to the actual shows, but my fumily would always go to the dress rebearsal. Sometimes my father left for a couple of days to travel with the show. My mother was a homemaker. During the week she cooked, baked and sewed. When she was finisbcd with her responsibilities. she would go to visit my aunts that l:iwd near by. On Saturdays she volunteered 31 the Jewish Old Age home. After we returned from shu1 on Salmday, she prepared lunch for us then she would leave for the Old Age Home. Sometimes she would maJce my brother. sister and I go with her. I went to a Jewish pivale school when I was si."< years old. I Je:amed Polish history, mathematics. reading and writing.. Only Jewish childrm weDl to this school but we did not leam about the kwisb rd.igion at this school Al 3:00 p.m•. I walked to Oleder. the Hebrew school. I was at Hebrew school until about 5:30 p.m. Al Hebrew school I learned to read, write and speak Yiddish and aJso learn about the Jewism religion. J wore a uniform and hat at school. All the boys at school had to have their head shaved. We wore only white shirts and our shoes bad to be polished. We bad to wear slippen; in school, as we were nol allowed to wear our shoes in classes. We ate lunch aa school, which we broogbl from home. I always gave my hmcb away because I did not like to eat food, but I would always finagle money from my uncles or f.atber so that I could buy cbocolatie on the way home from school. I had lots of friends. I was always the leader ofthe pack. My friend and J were always getting into something. In the sum.mer we would swim at the lake. J would go some eveninfl$ with my father to his Zionist meetin~. I spent evenings doing homework. We ate dinner w:ith my family togethcc every night My mom always covered the table with a white tabJccloth. On Saturdays, we had to rctum back to Cheder after lunch. We bad to study Cho.mesh with the Rabbi. My father would always check with the rabbi IO see it1 went If the rabbi would tell my father that l was not there. my father would give the rabbi a few coins for letting him know. Theo my father would punish me and not let me go out to play. My grandfather bad a butcbct shop with my Uncle. On Fridays. my grandfather' would close his shop al 2:00 and we would go together lo the mikvab and the steam bath. 1 would carry his towels and soap. My father's parents did not live too far fropi us. In my home we bad a bathroom with a bath. We bad cold running water. To have a bath. we had to fill up the hot water heater, which was nm by coal and wood. Then we would put bot water into the tub to bathe. In the summertime we would go to the Polish mountains. We rented a cottage. We would hike, swim. and visit the towns in the mountains. We woold go to the mountains by bus. We would stay in the mountains for a month or two. My father would go OOck and forth to the city to take care ofbusiness. September 1, 1939 Germany attacked Poland. As a child, I did not know much about Germany. When the Germans attacked Poland, my parents decided to run away from the city of Bedzin. We walked several days with others from the town to another town. We took what we could carry. We leased the same horse and buggy that delivered my father's meat, to carry our personal belongings. We saw the Germans in this town and they rudely told us to return to our homes. When we returned to our home in Bed?Jn. the Beth Hamidrash was already burning to the ground We .ret:umed to our house and found that the Poles had ransacked our home. Proclamations were on the walls everywhere stating that all the Jews living in the area were going to be assigned to another place to live. We bad to tum in all gold, jewelry and radios lo a certain area in Bedzin. We were given one room for my family offive lo live_ The cooking arrangements were shared with the other Jewish people. This is the beginning of the ghetto living. My father was unemployed and was not allowed to work. We were given a white armband with a blue Jewish star to wear while we were in the ghetto. We were not allowed to attend school anymore. We were not allowed to return to our home. The Germans made the Jews in the Ghetto fonn a Jewish committee. This committee funned a Jewish police force. The chiefof the Jewish police force, Barblatt, gave the orders to the rest of the police to help keep the people in order. A ~laration ordered all available people to go to the Judcnratt to register for work My father, mother, brother and I were assigned to different jobs. My father and brother worked in construction. My mother worked in a soup kitchen. I worked at the Sbuppa polici - the German Gestapo, shining shoes, cleaning the dog kennels, and carrying ooa1 and wood and other errands. I worked there seven days a week, from morning to night There were approximately seven cells that held Jews and non-Jews. After interrogating Jewish prisoners, I saw them shot to death. My family was not aware of what the future held The atmosphere was changing everyday, but it seemed as ifwe were taking it one day at a time. We had no idea that any of my family would be mardered. My brother was the first to be taken away. At first, he would return once a month to visit I was taken one day from the Gestapo and put on a truck and taken to Auschwitz. This was February 1942. I was in Auschwitz from 1942 to October 1944. While in Auschwitz in August 1943, I saw a train from my hometown coming into the camp. r watched the people coming off the train to see if I could spot my family. To my sadness, I noticed my mother and sister getting off the train and heading to the gas chamber. It bad been 1 Yz years since I bad seen them and now they were killed Sometime while I was in Auschwitz Birkenau I was told that my father was there but had swollen feel and was sent to the hospital One day, when I W-dS trying to see if l could find my father I was told that he was no longer at the hospital Without exact proof, I can only imagine that he was killed If be had been alive I would have found him. I was shipped to Sachensenhausen camp in October 1944. A few months later I was shipped to Orairuburg for a 3-4 months dismantling Russian and American planes that bad been shot down. After Orairu"burg I was sent to Dachau concentration camp. In 1945, I was on a death march to the mountains. At night we stayed in the woods. On May 3, 1945 all of us prisoners got up i.m the .morning and noticed that there were mo Ge:i'm.3fiS surrollfiding us in the area.. The Koppel head of the prisoners, told us to stay put and that no one should leave the area We thought that we would see a German truck and that the Gennans would kill us with machine guns. Instead. we saw about 6 green tanks with white stars. We thought at .first that these were German tanks. To our surprise. a black man stuck out his head from the hatch of the tank and screamed "America - America" gestering to himself so that we would understand that he was an American. This was in the city of Wolfrutshauscn. .. The prisoners started scattering around The black man using sign language told a few of us to get into his tank and he drove us into the city. He took us into a house where Gennans once lived Using sign language we were told lhat we would sleep there. They gave us cigarettes, chocolates. crackers and cheeses and made all efforts to make us comfortable. Aft.er a few days. we were directed to a deportation camp called FeJdafmk. I spent most of my time asking about where to find my living family. I found an Uncle, my father's brother Shiah Szejer. I was then told about where to find my brother. I found him recuperating from typhoid in a hospital in Salt7.heim Germany. My uncle and I beard that our cousins were alive in Sosnowic-£, Poland so my Uncle and I went to Poland to bring my cousins back to Feldafink. When I returned to Feldafink I decided that I did not want to m'C in any deportation camp anymore. I left for Staumberg, Germany and found ai house and lived there until 1947. I was registered as an orphan and was put on a boat for the United States in 1947. I arrived in Oeveland. Ohio August 3, 1947 and was placed in BeUefaire Orphanage where I lived approximately one year before moving to Pitlsbwgh. Pennsylvania. For the past 51 years I have suugglcd to work b.1rd.. raise a family. and provide for them. I started my work in the United States as a appn:ntioe in a tool and dycmalcing business in Pittsburgh. l met a wonderful woman and she became my wife August 6, 1950. We have four children. throe daughters and one son. After 17 years of working in the tool and dye.making business for Blumcraft Company, I started a new trade repairing washers and dryers for a cousin's business in Cleveland. Ohio. l moved my family to Cleveland in 1968. where I have been living all these years l built a washer and dryer business. I now work with my son who is running a vending machine busines.s. My wife retired after 42 years as a microbiologist and curreotly volunteers like my mother did My wife volunteers at the Jewish Old Age home. All of my childroo are now grown and on their own. I have five grandchildren. Two grandsons, and throe granddaughters. My wife and l spend a lot of our time traveling around the world. We have traveled the United States, Israel, Europe. South America and we are going to China and Japan this summer. When I am not travelmg I continue working with my son in the vending machine business. I will be 72 years old February 15, 1999. I can say that my life has surely been adventurous. Although the enonnous sacrifice that my family made with their lives. I can 1only be gratcfuJ and app-cciative of the peace. happiness and prosperity that J now have in my life living in the United States. I spend a great deal of my time, telling my story to students. My greatest emphasis to them is that life is so "-cry shon and that they should never take anything for granted. They should appreciate what they have and be gracious and kind to others. My grealest ~ge is tba1 they sbouJd not discriminate. The only way that evil will triumph again is ifgood people do nothing. I have vowed never to stand by and let evil triumph again. Herbert A. Friedman Tne Vve- ner heniage r=ounoa; c· 551 Mao1son Avenu" ::;2 ~o5 011;. Ne..-. York New York 10022 Fa· ::'12 75i 3739 Mr. Leon Shear -if 2053 Temblehurst Road Cleveland, OH44121-3717 March 28, 2000 Dear Mr. Shear, Thank you for sending me your story. It was touching in its honesty and so helpful because it was so personal. As I read it, I could feel some of your pain and agony and fear. All I can say is that your letter is powerful and inspiring. The fact that you lived almost three full years in Auchwitz, saw your mother and sister disappear into the gas chamber and lost track of your father, should have smashed your morale for good. Instead you ended your letter on a tremendous upbeat note as you instruct young students to be kind and fight evil. Congratualtions for your strength. Sincerely yours, ~(~. y;_~J_~ Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman Find a Person - Results wysiwyg://50/http://www.switchboair ...ear&T =cleveland&S=oh&Submit==Search altavista: uva ~arch ~ ~ Free ln~(?rn~t_Access Email ~ News S rts Entertainment World Careers Women Health Real Estate Ir Find a Person powered by Switchboard® click here to go Displaying: 1 1 Shopping l Send a friend a Modify Search I New Search Shear, Leon 2053 Temblethurst Rd. Cleveland, OH 44121-3717 Phone: (216)382-6641 Can't find them? Try These alternatives: 1. Mod i~ Search 2. New earch 3. Search Public Records 4. Find Your Old Classmates Search np:Too many listings? Click here for help on narrowing your search. No results? Click here for help on br search. ant to ad your ema1 address to your listing. Moved recently . N to update your in ormation? Click CllD listing and personalize today! Can't find yourself in the directory? Click here to add your listing. It's Co~right C 1996-2000 Switchboard lnco~orated Business and Res enual Information provided by 1nf0Us ®· Omaha. Nebraska Sho~mg I Money INews Iwarts I Travel I Careers Health I ntertamment World _.£!!!!!!~Estate I local About Alt.aVista I Helo I Contact Us I Adveruse With Us I Affiliate Network Business Solutions I Job ooerungs I Press Room I Pnvacy I Terms or Use I A CMGI C<>mpany C 2000 AttaVista Company. AltaVista® is a registered trademark and Smart is Beaubful and the AltaVista logo are trademarks of AltaVis I of 1 3/10/00 3:57 PM My Historv from childhood to liberation to retirement My name is Leon Shear I was born February 15. 1927 Lazer bcn Zvi Yehuda Szejer and Blima Szejer in the city of Bedzi.n. Poland. I have a brother Shiah Wolf Szejer " 'ho was born December 25. 1925. My sister Henna Szcjer was born in 1930 My brother and I me the sole SW'\.ivors of the Holocaust from my •mmcdiate family. We liYcd in a three-bedroom home. My brother and I shared a bedroom. My father was a "holesale disU11'utor of calf meat He took orders from the butcher shop. He then ordered the live calf from the Non-Jewish Polish farmers. The calves were delivered to a kosher slaughterhouse \\here lhe calf meat was slaughtered. My father leased a horse and buggy that delivered the calf meal to the butchers. My father worked on weekends as a stand up comic at a Jewish Theatre called the Muza Theatre. The momcy that was raised from the Theatre was given to charity. I was not allowed to go to the actual shows. but my family would always go to lhe dress reh.earsal Someumcs my father left for a couple of days to travel with the show My mother was a homemaker During the "eek she cooked. baked and se"ed. When she was finished Mlh her rcsponsi0itit1cs. she \\Ould go to visit my aunts that lived near b). On Saturdays she volllilleered at the JC\\ish Old Age home. After we rerumed from shul on Saturday. she prepared lunch for us th.en she would leave for the Old Age Home. Someumes she \\Ould make m) brother. sister and I go Wlth her. I went to a Je"ish pnvate school when l was SJ:< years old. I learned Pollsh history, mathematics. reading and writing. Only Jewish children went to this school but we did not learn about the Jewish religion at this school. Al 3:00 p.m.. I walked lo Cheder. the Hebrew school. I was al Hebrew school until about 5:30 p.m. Al Hebrew school I learned 10 read. write and speak Yiddish and also learn about the Jewish religion. I wore a uniform and hat at school. AD the boys at school had 10 have their head shaved. We wore only white shuts and our shoes bad to be polished. We bad to Yi car slippers m school as we were not allowed to wear our shoes in classes. We ate lunch ai school. which we brougbl from home. I always gave my lunch away because I did not like to eat food. but I would always finagle money from my uncles or father so that l could buy chocolate on the way home from school. I had lots of friends. I was always the leader of the pock. My friend and I were always getting into something. In the summer we would swim at the lake. I would go some evenings with my father to his Zionist meetings. l spent evenings doing homework. We ate dinner with my fanuly together every night. My mom always covered lhc table with a white tablecloth. On Saturdays. \\C bad 10 return b3ck to Cheder after lunch. We bad to srudy Chomcsh \\ith the Rabbi. My father would always checlc with the rabbi to see if I ''enL lfthe rabbi "ouJd teJJ my father that I was not there. my father would give the rabbi a few coins for letting him kno\\. Then Ill) father would punish me and not let me go out 10 play My grandfather had a butcher shop ~ilh my Uncle. On Fridays. my grandfather would close his shop at 2:00 and we would go together to the mikvah and the steam bath. I would carry his towels and soap. My father's parents did not live too far from us. ln my home we had a bathroom with a bath. We bad cold tunning water. To have a bath. we had to fill up the hot water beater. which \Vas nm by coal and wood. Then we would put hot \\.ate:r into the tub to bathe. In lhe summertime V\e would go to the Polish mountains. We rented a couage. We would hike. swim. and visit the towns in the mountaJns. We would go to the mowltam.s by bus. We would stay m the mountains ror a month or two. My father would go back and forth to the city to take care of business. September 1. l 93 9 Gennany attacked Poland. As a child. I did not know much about Germany. When the Gennans attacked Poland my parents decided to run away from the city of Bedzin. We walked several days with others from the to'm to another town. We took what we could carry. We leased the same horse and buggy that delivered my father's meat to carry our personal belongings. We saw the Germans in this town and they rudely told us to return to our homes. When we returned to our home in Bedzi.n.. the Beth Hamidrash was already burning to the ground. We rerumed to our house and found that the Poles had ransacked our home. Proclamations were on the walls everywhere stating that all the Jews living in the area were going to be assigned to another place to live. We bad to turn in all gold. jewelry and radios to a cenain area in Bedzin. We were given one room for my family of five to live. The cooking arrangements were shared with the other Jewish people. This is the beginning of the ghetto living. My father was unemployed and was not allowed to work. We were given a white armband with .a blue Jewish star to wear while we were in the ghetto We were not allowed to attend! school anymore. We were not allowed lo return to our home. The Germans made the Jews in the Ghetto form a Jewish committee. nus committee formed a Jewish police force. The chief of the Jewish police force. Barblatt gave the orders to the rest of the police to help keep the people in order. A declaration ordered all available people to go to the Judenratt to regi.ster for work. My father. mother. brother and 1 were assigned to different jobs. My father and brother worked in construction. My mother worked in a soup kitchen. l worked at the Shuppa polici - the German Gestapo. shining shoes. cleaning lhe dog kennels. and carrying coal and wood and other errands. l worked there seven days a week. from moming to night. There were approximately seven cells lhal held Jews and non-Jews. After interrogating Jewish prisoners. I saw them shot to death. My family was not aware of what the future held The atmosphere was changing everyday. but i_t seemed as if we were taking it one day at a time. We had no idea that any of my family would be murdered. My brother was the first to be taken away. Al first he would rerum once a month to visit l \\'3.S, taken one day from the Gestapo and put on a truck and taken to Auschwitz. This was February 19~2 . I was in Auschwitz from 19:12 to October 19"4. While m Ausch\\-itz in August l 943. 1 saw a train from my hometown coming into the camp. l watched the people coming off the tra1Jl to see if I could spot my family. To my sadness. I noticed my mother and sister getting off the train and heading to the gas chamber. It had been I Yi years since I had seen them and now they were killed. Sometime while I was in Auschwitz Bitkenau I was told that my father was there but bad swollen feet and was sent to the hospital. One day. when 1 was uying to see ifI could find my father I was told that he was no longer at the hospital Without exact proof. l can only imagine that he was killed. lfhe had been alive 1 would have found him. l was shipped to Sachenscnhauscn camp in October 1944. A few months later I was shipped to Orainiburg for a 3~ months dismantling Russian and American planes that had been shot down. After Orainiburg I was sent to Dachau concentration camp. ln 1945. l was on a death march to the mountains. Al night we stayed in the woods. On May 3. 1945 all of us prisoners got up ;in the morning and noticed that there were no Germans surrounding us in the area. The Koppel. head of the prisoners. told us to stay put and that no one should leave the area We thought that we would see a German truck :ind that the Germans would kill us with m.achine guns. Instead. we saw about 6 green tanks with white stars. We thought at first that t.bese were German tanks. To. our surprise. a black man stuck out his head from the hatch of the tank and screamed .. America - America'' gestering to himself so that we would understand that be was an American. This was in the city of WoUiutshau.sen. The prisoners started scattering around The black man using sign language told a few of us to get into his tank and he drove us into the city. He took us into a house where Germans once lived Using sign Janguage we were told that we wouJd sleep there. They gave us cigarettes. chocolates. crackers and cheeses and made all effons Lo make us comfortable. After a few days. we were directed to a deportation camp called FeJdafi.nk. 1 spent most of my time asking about where to find my living family. I found an Uncle. my father's brother Shiah Szejer. 1 was then told about where to find my brother. I found him recuperating from typhoid in a hospital in Salt.7.heim Gennany. My uncle and I heard that our cousins were alive in Sosnowiez. Poland so my Uncle and I went to Poland to bring my cousins back to Feldafink. When 1 returned lo Feldafink I decided that I did not want to live in any deportation camp anymore. I left for Staumberg, Gennany and found a house and lived there until 1947. I was registered as an orphan and was put on a boat for the United States in 1947. I arrived in Qeveland. Ohio August 3. 1947 and was plated in Bellefaire Orphanage where I lived approximately one year before moving to Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. For the past 51 years I have struggled lo work hard. raise a family. and provide for them. I started my work in l!he United States as a apsnntice in a tool and dyemaking business in Pin.sburgb. I met a \\Onderful woman and she became my wife August 6. 1950. We have four children. three daughters and one son. Mer 17 years of working in the tool and dyemaking business for Blumcraft Company, I started a new trade repairing washers and dryers for a cousin· s business in Qeveland. Ohio. l moved my family to Cleveland in 1968. where l have been livmg all these years. I built a washer and dryer business. I now work with my son who is nmning a vending machine business. My wife retim1 after oJ2 years as a microbiologist and currently volunteers. like my mother did My wife volunteers at the Jewish Old Age home. Alli of my children are now grown and on their own.. 1 have five grandchildren. Two grandsons. and three granddaughters. My wife and I spend a lot of our time traveling around the worid. We have traveled the United States. Israel. Europe. South America and we are going to China and Japan this summer. When I am not traveling I oo.ntinue working v.ith my son in the vending machme business. I will be 72 years old February 15. 1999. I can say that my life has surely been adventurous. Although the enormous sacrifice that my family made \\ith their lives. I can only be grateful and appreciative of the peace. happiness and prosperity that J now have in my life living in the United States. I spend a great deal of my time. telling my story to srudents. My greatest emphasis to them is that life is so very short and that they shouJd never take anything for granted. They should appreciate what they have and be gracious and kind to others. My greatest message is that they should not discriminate. The only way that evil will triumph again is if good people do nothing. I have vowed never to stand by and let evil triumph again. Find a Person - Results wysiwyg://50/http://www.switchboar... ear&T=cleveland&S=oh&Submit=Search altavista: UVE! Search ~ ~ Free Internet Access Email Mone News S rts Entertainment World Careers Women Health Real Estate Tr Find a Person powered by Switchboard® click here to go' Displaying: 1 Shopping Send a friend a Modify Search I New Search Shear, Leon 2053 Temblethurst Rd, Cleveland, OH 44121-3717 Phone: (216)382-6641 Can't find them? Try These alternatives: 1. Modify Search 2. New Search 3. Search Public Records 4. Find Your Old Classmates Search Tip:Too many listings? Click here for help on narrowing your search. No results? Click here for help on br search. ate your m ormation . he f1D Can't find yourself in the directory? Click here to add your listing. It's f ,EE' Co~vright C 1996-2000 Switchboard lnco~orated Business and Res ent1al Information provided by 1nfoOS ®· Omaha. Nebraska Sho~ing I Money INews I ~rts I Travel Careers Health I ntertamment World I ~ ~ sta e ocal About Altavista I Help I Contact Us I Advertise Wrth Us I Affiliate Network Business Solutsons I Job Openings I Press Room I Pnvacy I Terms of Use I A CMGI Company C 2000 AJtaVJsta Company. AltaV1Sta® is a registered trademark and Smart is Beautiful and the AltaV1Sta logo are trademarks of AltaVIS I of I 3/10/00 3:57 PM My History from childhood to liberation to retirement My name is Leon Shear. I was born February 15. 1927 Lazer ben Zvi Yehuda Szejer and Blima Szejer in the city of Bedzin. Poland I have a brother Shiah Wolf Szejer who was born December 25. 1925. My sister Henna Szejer was born in 1930. My brother and I are the sole survivors of the Holocaust from my immediate family. We lived in a three-bedroom home. My brother and I shared a bedroom. My father was a wholesale distributor of calf meat He took orders from the botcher shop. He then ordered! the live calf from the Non-Jewish Polish farmers. The calves were delivered to a kosher slaughterhouse where the calf meat was slaughtered My father leased a horse and buggy that delivered the calf meat to the butchers. My father worked on weekends as a stand up comic at a Jewish Theatre called the Muza Theatre. The money that was raised from the Theatre was given to charity. 1 was not allowed to go to the actual shows. but my family would always go to the dress rehearsal. Sometimes my father left for a couple of days to travel with the show. My mother was a homemaker. During the week she cooked, baked and sewed. When she was finished with her responsibilities, she would go to visit my aunts that lived near by. On Saturdays she volunteered at the Jewish Old Age home. After we returned from shul on Saturday. she prepared lunch for us then she would leave for the Old Age Home. Sometimes she would make my brother, sister and I go with her. I went to a Jewish private school whe.n I was six years old. I learned Polish history, mathematics. reading and writing. Only Jewish children went to this school but we did not team about the Jewish religion at this school. At 3:00 p.m., I walked to Cheder. the Hebrew school. I was at Hebrew school until about 5:30 p.m. Al Hebrew school I learned to read. write and speak Yickfish and also learn about the Jewish religion. I wore a uniform and hat at school. All the boys at school had to have their head shaved. We wore only white shirts and our shoes bad to be polished. We bad to wear slippers in school, as we were not allowed to wear our shoes in classes. We ate lunch at school. which we brought from home. I always gave my lunch away because I did not like to eat food, but I would always finagle money from my uncles or father so that I could buy chocolate on the way home from school. I had lots of friends. I was always the leader of the pack. My friend and I were always getting into something. [n the summer we would swim at the lake. I would go some evenings with my father to his Zionist meetings. I spent evenings doing homework. We ate d!inner with my family together every night. My mom always covered the table with a white tablecloth. On Saturdays. we had to retum back to Che My grandfather had a butcher shop with my Uncle. On Fridays, my grandfather would close his shop at 2:00 and we would go together to the mikvah and the steam bath. I would carry his towels and soap. My father's parents did not live too far from us. In my home we bad a bathroom with a bath. We bad cold running water. To have a bath. we had to fill up the hot water heater, which was run by coal and wood Then we would put hot water into the tub to bathe. In the summertime we would go to the Polish mountains. We rented a cottage. We would hike, swim. and visit the towns in the mountains. We would go to the mountains by bus. We would stay in the mountains for a month or two. My father would go back and forth to the city to take care of business. September 1. 1939 Germany attacked. Poland. As a child I did not know much about Germany. When the Germans attacked Poland my parents decided to run away from the city of Bedz:in. We walked several days with others from the town to another town. We took what we could ~'· We leased the same horse and buggy that delivered my father's meat to carry our personal belongings. We saw the Germans in this town and they rudely told us to return to our homes. When we retwned to our home in Bedzin. the Beth Hamidrasb was already bwning to the ground We ieturned to our house and found tha1 the Poles had ransacked our home. Proclamations were on the walls everywhere stating that all the Jews living in the area were going to be assigned to another place to live. We bad to tum in all gold, jewelry and radios to a certain area in &dz.in. We were given one room for my family of five to live. The cooking arrangements were shared with the other Jewish people. This is the beginning of the ghetto living. My father was Wlemployed and was not allowed to work. We ·were given a white armband with a blue Jewish star to wear while we were in the ghetto. We were not allowed to attendl school anymore. We were not allowed to return to our home. The Germans made the Jews in the Ghetto form a Jewish committee. This committee fonned a Jewish police force. The chief of the Jewish police force. Barblatl ~ve the orders lo the rest of the police to help keep the people in order. A declaration ordered all available people to go to the Judenratt to register for work. My father. mother. brother and I were assigned to different jobs. My father and brother worlced in construction. My mother worked in a soup kitchen I worked a:t the Shuppa polici - the German Gestapo. shining shoes. cleaning the dog kennels. and carrying coal and wood and other coands. 1 worked there seven days a week, from morning to nigbL There were approximately seven cells that held Jews and non-Jews. After interrogating Jewish prisoners. l sa~ them shot to death. My family was not aware of what the future held The aonospbere "as changing everyday. but it seemed as if we were taking it one day at a time. We had no idea that any of my family would be murdered. My brother was the first to be taken away. Al first he would return once a mon1h to visit 1 was taken one day from the Gestapo and put on a truck and taken to Auschwitz. This was February 1942. I was in Auschwitz from 194-2 to OctOber 1944. While in Auschwitz in August 1943. l saw a train from my hometown coming into lhe camp. I watched the people coming off the train to see if I could spot my family. To my sadness, I noticed my mother and sister getting off the train and heading to the gas chamber. It had been 1 Yz years since I had seen them and now they were killed. Sometime while I was in Auschwitz Birkenau I was told that my father was there but had swollen feet and was sent 10 the hospital. One day. when I was trying to see ifl could find my father I was told that he was no longer at the hospital Without ex.act proo( I can only imagine that he was killed. If he had been alive I would have found him. I was shipped to Sachenscnbausen camp in October 1944. A few months later I was shipped to Orainiburg for a 34 months dismantling Russian and American planes that had been shot down. After Oraiml:JUrg I was sent to Dachau concentration camp. In 1945. I was on a death march to the mountains. Al night we stayed in the woods. On May 3. 1945 all of us pnsone:rs got up in the morning and noticed that there were no Germans sunounding us in the area. The Koppel, bead of the prisoners. told us to stay put and that no one should leave the area We thought that we would see a German truck. and that the Germans l\ould kill us with machine guns. lnslead, we saw about 6 green tanks with white stars. We thought at first that these were Gennan tanks. To our surprise, a black man stuck out his head from the halch of the tank and screamed" America - America" gestering to him.self so that we would understand that he was an American. This was in the city of Wolfrutshausen The prisoners started scattering around The black man osing sign language told a few of us to get into bis tank and he drove us into the city. He took us into a house where Gcml311.S once lived. Using sign language we were told that we would sleep there. They gave us cigarettes. chocolates. crackers and cheeses and made all effons to make us comfonable. After a few days. we were directed to a deportation camp called Feldafink.. I spent most of my ti.me asking about where to find my living family. I found an Uncle. my father's brother Sbiab Szejer. I was then told about where to find my brother. l found him recuperating from typhoid in a hospital in Saltzheim Germany. My Wtcle and I heard that our cousins were alive in Sosnowicz. Poland so my Uncle and I went to Poland to bring my cousins back to Feldafink. When I reru.med to Feldafink I decided that I did not want to live in any deportation camp anymore. I left for Staumberg. Gennany and found a house and lived there until 1947. l was registered as an orphan and was put on a boat for the United States in 1947. I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio August 3. 1947 and was placed in Bellefaire Orphanage where I lived approximately one year before moving to Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. For the past 51 years I have struggled to work bard. raise a family. and JrOVidc for them. l started my work in tbe United Stat.es as a apprentice in a tool and dyemaking business in Pittsburgh. I met a wondeiful woman and she became my wife August 6. 1950. We have four children, three daughters and one son. After 17 years of working in the tool and dyemak:ing business for Blumcraft Company. I started a new trade repairing washers and dryers for a cousin's business in Cleveland. Ohio. l moved my family to Cleveland in 1968, where I have been living all these years. I built a washer and dr)er business. I now work with my son who is running a vending machine business. My wife retired after 42 years as a microbiologist and currently volunteers like my mother did My wife volunteers at the Jewish Old Age home. All of my children are now grown and on their own. I have fiv;e grandchildren. Two grandsons, and three granddaughters. My wife and I spend a lot of our time traveling around the world. We have traveled the United States. Israel, Europe, South America and we are going to Cluna and Japan this summer. When I am not traveling 1 continue working with my son in the vending machine business I will be 72 years old February 15, 1999. I can say that my life has surely been adventmous. Although the enonnous sacrifice tJhat my family made with their lives. l can only be grateful and appreciative of the peace. happiness and prosperity that l now have in my life living in the United States. I spend a great deal of my time. telling my story to students. My greatest emphasis to them is that life is so very short and that they should never take anything for granted. They should appreciate what they have and be gracious and kind to others. My greatest message is that they should not discriminate. The only way that evil will triumph again is if good people do nothing. I have vowed never to stand by and let evil triumph again Th~ Wexner Herit.agt: Foundation 551 Madison Avenue • New ¥0111. N€W Yori< 10022 212 355 6115 Fa'1212 751 373!"t Ms. Luisa Ada Affricano 600 Roosevelt Blvd. Apt. 411 Falls Church, VA 22044 November 28, 2000 Dear Ms. Affricano, Thank you for responding to our letter about sending your story to the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at the World Jewish Congress. I am writing to you to confirm that we received your letter and we will forward your story to the World Jewish Congress in your name. This is an important project that will help preserve.the testimonies ofyou and other survivors, so the lessons learned and the people who perished during the Holocaust are never forgotten. Your story is extremely interesting. It is amazing that although the Italians who helped you faced harsh punishments, even death, people sti 11 took you and your family into their homes and helped save you. It is reassuring to know that not everyone followed Hitler and the evil ways of the Nazis. Through survivors written testimonies, we will forever have eyewitness accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust and learn from it so nothing like the Holocaust will ever happen again. In regards to your relatives in Italy, they are welcome to send their stories to the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project. We will contact them with the address of the World Jewish Congress. The project is accepting all testimonies from survivors as long as the testimony is written down. Again, we want to thank you for sharing your story. If you have any other questiorl.6 o: concerns, please feel free to call me, Jamie Goldberg, Rabbi Herbert Friedman's assistant, at 212-355-6115. You may also contact Ms. Yudin at the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at 914-722-1880. B'Shalom ~erp~cc Rabbj Herben A. Friedman 551 Madison Avenue New York. NY 10022 November 14, 2000 Dear Rabbj Friedman; Thank you for your letter of October 26, 2000. I found it when I came back from ltaly last week and! I am sony that my answer is coming so late. 1 appreciate your help in submitting to the Poblisbet my story regarding the Nazi occupation of Rome when I was just a kid and with all my family we had to find a shelter to avoid capture by the SS. As I probably mentioned to you already I have other rda:tives in Italy who could submit their personal recollections and moo.Id they be interested in submitting their mories too, would it be acceptable to include them in the ltaHan language, or should all the doamw:nts be in English? They are al.ready listed in the Survivors Registty of the Holocaust Memorial MDseom and Varginia Gattegno is a survivor of Auschwitz.. Please, let me know ifyou think that 1 contact them. or you want ooc:e again to "take the trouble" to contact them directly. Thank yoo very much again for your t.bougbtfulness. Sincerely yours, Luisa Ada Affricano ~A - ~~ Here a.re their~: Vuginia Gattegno Paola Corcos Via Andrea Calmo. 20 Via Rodriguez Pereira Venezia - Lido ltaly 00195 Roma Italy Herbert A. Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundation 551 Mao1son Avenue 212 355 6115 New York New York 10022 Fax 212 751 3739 Ms. Luisa Ada Affiicano t 600 Roosevelt Blvd. Apt.# 411 Falls Church, VA 22044 March 28, 2000 Dear Ms. Affiicano, Thank you for sending me your story. It was touching in its honesty and so helpful because it was so personal. As I read it, I could feel some of your pain and agony and fear. Your story was unusual in that it describes a Nazi occupation of another country. Your frantic efforts to avoid capture by the SS; the willingness of Catholic friends to hide you; the carpenter who took you in - and how all this felt to an eight-year-old girl, with an ever younger sister. The nightmare ended with the American liberation of Rome. The article you enclosed with your letter was very strong and clear. Sincerely yours, \lGcJ-A- v~ Dear Rabbi Friedman: Thank you for your recent letter of February 25. As you say it was really a very emotional experience to attend the Life Reborn conference in Washington and it was very meaningful for me to participate. I was particularly touched by Elle Wiesel talk and once again I felt encouraged to talk about my recollection of the war time. Since you asked I am ready to tell you a little more. I went through the Nazi persecution in Italy where I was born and tived t111 I came to the States in the slxtfes. During the war I was a very young kJd, eight years old exactly when the racial laws caused a lot of troubles and anguish to the Italian J'ews, and I will never forget, of course, what It was like . Some years ago I wrote a short memo for the Italian magazine published by NIAF in DC, when people began to be very interested in the holocaust recollections of us survivors. After the war we could go right back to our home in Rome and I consider myself very lucky of course, since I know of many relatives and friends who did not come back. It goes without saying how hard and dtmOJtt it was to go back to a normal life, but we made it!! I For some years we did not even want to talk about it and I ean understand now the reasons why. My family did not have to go through a DP's camp and I do not remember of any close relative that had that experience. Two nieces of my paternal grandmother, Ada Luzzatto, who arrived to Rome from Auschwitz where theJr mother, two young brothers and grandmother were kJlled, could count on the family's support to get back on their feet and "'be rebom" . Being then very young, and In reasonably good health, they made a miracle, and have had a rather normal life although, now, in their late seventies, are facing more difficult problems that are certainly connected with the horror of the lager, and this is a taboo topic which we do not want to discuss when I visit the one living In Venice, Italy. I am enclosing a copy of the above mentioned article which I think you might be: interested In reading. In closing I would like to mention the 1998 Oscar prized Italian movie "Ufe is beautiful" which I assume you have seen and which has once again struck a very vivid chord of my personal experience. Shalom andw; regards. /). 1 ;:.ft .~ Luisa )((fa A cano P.S. In tbe Video Library of the U.S. ~Memorial Mosc:um you can find: 1. A DEBT TO HONOR. A DoaJmelllary. Stories told by the people who smviwd in Italy. 2. A taped interview with my cousin Vrrginia Gattegno. Venice, Italy 1991 3. A taped intcrView of myself for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum 1993 The _German Occupation of Rome:A Childhood Remembrance By LUISA AFFRICANO BORGIOTTl Trying to keep as calm as poss1- '7hat fateful Oct.o~r 16th/'' Wrth hle under rile circumstances. my being discovered and even this grall'e phrase, my grandmother al mother took me and my lillle sis punished for this act of generosiiy ways remembered the day in 1943 ter. Marta, up w the apartment of that showed his opposition to the when we abandoned our home in our tenants, Or. Garzil/i and llis Germans. Rome and frantically looked for a hid wife. As soon as the}' agreed to hide After two weeks, my mother ing place where we hoped the Ger Marta and me, my mother kissed us came for us. We spent the nexc man police wouldn't find us. and was gone e1gl1t months hiding in convents, or Jn September of that same year, The doctor and his wife instru<.1· wrth relatives who were married to Mussolini's Fascist government had eel us 10 call them "Uncle Claudio" Catholics and were protected by fallen, Italy had withdrawn from and "Aunt Fernanda" 10 liide our law from persecution. the war, and the Nazis with their true 1cl~11t1t1t.·s They ov(.'rwlu:lmecl Our experience was like those of dreaded SS troops had occupied us wi1h kmclness and did everytlung thousands of Jews in Rome, who Rome. in their power to attenuate our in· were forced hiding until June Our situation was further compli credible rrauma at being suddenly into 1944 when Rome was liberated by cated by the fad that my (ather was separaterl from our mother for the out of the country. In 1938, he had first time in our lives. che Americans. Neverthless, I cannot help feeling October 16, 1943 has passed into gone to North Africa to work for a ' profoundly sad when I think of history as the day the Germans be large Italian firm. Soon after the 1 those uncertain da ys in which we gan deporting the Jews of Rome. British captured tile plant ;111d he knew nothing about 011r 111of11er Many never made the journey was taken prisoner. We hadn't and grandmother. At times, I used back. Is it hard to understand why heard from him in five years. to cry, hoping that no one would some of us were saved and others My mother carried on as best she see me. I was eight years old, but were not? could, taking care of her two little Marta was only six. I felt responsi In his last work, the late Italian daughters and her 7J-year-old writer Primo Levi, himself a survivor mother in a city that had become ble for consoling my little sister, cried openly because of Auscliwitz. offers an explanation. a German strongl1old. wllo more she missed our mother. He says the Jews who survived musl Now, nearly fifty years later, I still After geuing us seuled, our always remind the world abou1 the vemember the help that came to us mother and grandmother immedi· Holocaust because if we forget that from compassionate Catholic Auschwitz existed, it would be eas friends and acquaintances whr> un a1ely left the apartment to look for ier to build ai second Auschwitz. like us, did not find themsclv~ in a hrdi,ng place. They were taken in " And," writes Levi, "nothing as danger of being deported and sent fo1 a few days by a carpenler who sures us that this lime, it would to concentration camps reserved • had recently done some work for devour only Jews .... " 0 for Jews. us. He lived on the outskirts of Those ro whom we owe perl1aps Rome in a small apartment with his our very lives and who, without a wife and two children. moment's hesitation, gave us all the This was a very disturbing ex help they could, those generous perience for !lie two women1 who Luisa Affricano Borgiotti came to people today are no longer here came to find themselves in sur the United States in 1965. She now b~t i will never forget, them, n~ roundint;s completely different lives in Falls Church, Virginia. will my gratitude ever fade. from w l1.1t they were use Dear Rabbi Friedman: Thank you for your recent letter of February 25. As you say it was really a very emotional experience to attend the Life Reborn conference in Washington and it was very meaningful for me to participate. I was particularly touched by Elle W~esel talk and once again I felt encouraged to talk about my recollection of the war time. Since you asked I am ready to tell you a little more. I went through the Nazi persecution in Italy where I was born and lived till I came to the States In the sixties. Durtng the war I was a very young kJd, eight years old exactly when the racial laws caused a lot of troubles and anguish to the Italian Jews, and I wlll never forget, of course, what It was llke. Some years aoo I wrote a short memo t'or the Italian magazjne pubtlshed by NIAF In DC, when people began to be very Interested in the holocaust recollections of us survivors. After the war we could oo right bade to our home in Rome and I consider myself very lucky of course, since I know of many relatives and friends who did not come back. It goes without saying how hard and dfft'icult it was to go back to a normal life, but we made It! I I For some years we did not even want to talk about it and I can \lnderstand now the reasons why. My family did not have to go through a O~s camp and I do not remember of any dose relative that had that experience. Two nieces of my paternal grandmother, Ada Luzzatto, who arrived to Rome from Auschwitz where their mother, two young brothers and grandmother were ktlfed, could count on the family's support to get back on their feet and "be reborn" . Being then very young, and in reasonably Oood health, they made a mlrade, and have had a rather normal life although, now, In their late seventies, are facing more difficult problems that are certainty connected with the horror of the rager, and this is a taboo topic which we do not want to discuss when I visit the one living In Venice, Italy. I am endosing a copy of the above mentioned article which I think you might be interested in reading. In dosing I would like to mention ttle 1998 Oscar prized Italian movie "Life Is beautiful• which I assume you have seen and Which has once again struck a very vivid chord of my personal experience. Shalom al\d best regards. &.ttA-ll~ C--0--C'> Luisa Ada Alfrricano P.S. In the Video Libraiy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Mmeum you can find: 1. A DEBT TO HONOR A DocumentaJy. Stories told by the ~le who survived in Italy. 2. A taped intmiew with my cousin Virginia Gattegno. Venice, Italy 1991 3. A taped interview ofmyself for tbe U.S. HolocaDsl Memorial Museum 1993 The German Occupation of Rome:A Childhood Remembrance By LUISA AFFRIC/\NO BORGIO"ITI Trying 10 keep as caim as possi "That fateful October 16th!" With ble under the circumstanc.;es, my being discovered and even lhis grave phrase, my grandn!Oll1er al mother took me and my lillle sis punished for this act of generosity ways remembered the day in 1943 ter, Marta, up tCJ the aparLmenr of that showed his opposition 10 rile when we abandoned our home in our tenants, Dr. Garzilli and his Germans. Rome and frantically looked for a hid wife. As soon as they agreed Lo hide After two weeks, my mother ing place wl1ere we hoped the Ger Marla and me, my mother kissed us came for us. We spent the 11ext man police wouldn't find us. and was gone. eight months hiding in convents, or .In September of that same year. The doctor and his wife insrruc.t with relatives who were married 10 Mussolini's Fascist government had ed us 10 call 1hem "Uncle Clat1dio" Catholics and were protected by fallen, Italy had withdrawn from aml "Aunt frrnanrla" to /11cle our law from persecution. the war, and the Nazis with their true itlenlitu.'S. 1/1ey ovftny/1d11H?d Our experience was like those of dreaded SS troops had occupied us with kind11ess and die/ eYerytJ1ing Rome. in rheir power lo allenuale our in· thousands of .Jews in Rome, who were forced into hiding until June Our situation was further compli crecl ible trauma al being suddenly 1944 when Rome was liberated by cated by tlie fact that my father was separated from our mother for 1/ie out of the country. In 1938, he had first time in our //\·es. the Americans. Neverthless, I cannot help feeling October 16, 1943 has passed into gone to North Africa to work for a profoundly sad when I think of history as the day the Germans be large Italian firm. Soon after the those uncertain days in which we gan depor11ng the Jews of Rome. Britisl1 captured tile plant a,;d he knew nor/1i11g about our mother Many never made the journey was taken prisoner. We hadn't and grandmother At times, I used back. Is it hard to understand why heard from him in five years. to cry, hoping that no one would some of us were saved and others My mother carried on best she as see me. I was eight years olcl, but were not? could, laking care of her two little Marta was only six. I (e/1 responsi· In his last work, 1he late Italian daughters and her 73-year-olcl ble for consoling my liule sister, writer Primo Levi, himself a survivor morher in a city that had become of Auscl1wil2, offers an explanation. a German stronghold. who cried more openly bec.wse she missed our mother. / le says the Jews who survived must Now, nearly fifty years later, I sit/I After gelling us sellled, our always remind the world about the vemember the help that came to us mother and grandmother immedi- I lolocaust because if we forget that from compassionate Catholic Auschwia existed, it would be eas· friends and acquaintances who un ately left the apartment to look for ier to build a second Auschwitz. like us, did not find Lhemselv~s in a hiding place. They were taken in "And," writes Levi, "nothing as danger of being deported and sent for a few clays by a carpenter who sures us r/Jat this Lime, it would Lo concentration camps reserved /iacl rece11tly clone some work for devour only Jews .... " 0 for fews. us. I le lived on the outskirl.5 of Those r~ whom we owe perhaps Rome in a small apartment with his our \lf.'ry lives and who, without a wife .ancJ two children. moment's hesitation, gave us all the This was a very disturbing ex help they could, those generous perience for the two women who Luisa Affricano Borgiotti came to people today are no longer here came to find themselves in sur the United Stales in 1965. She now b~t t will never forget. them, no~ roundings complerely clifferenl lives in Falls Church, Virginia. will my gratitude ever fade. from what thC!y were used lo and Our ordeal began th&t October where, despite tile fact that they felt day at dawn when our concierge relatively safe. r/Jey lacked every knocked on our apartment door. comfort ancl pnvacy. During the night an uncle my lJut years later, tl1ey continued 10 father's brother, had been arr~sled feel grateful ro that carpenter who by the SS, she said. The Nazis were had not hesitated to open his hum rounding up all the Jews in Rome. ble home to hide two Jewish wom· en even though he ran tile risk of March 8, 2000 Dear Rabbi Friedman: Thank you for your recent letter of February 25. As you say it was really a very emotional experience to attend the Life Reborn conference in Washington and It was very meaningful for me to participate. I was particularly touched by Elie Wiesel talk and once again I felt encouraged to talk about my recollection of the war time. Since you asked I am ready to tell you a little more. I went through the Nazi persecution in Italy where 1 was born and lived till I came to the States in the sixties. Dur1ng the war I was a very young kid, eight years old exactly when the racial laws caused a lot of troubles and anguish to the Italian Jews, and I will never forget, of course, what It was like . Some years ago I wrote a short memo for the Italian magazine published by NIAF in DC, when people began to be very Interested In the holocaust recollections of us survivors. After the war we could go right back to our home in Rome and I consider myself very lucky of course, since I know of many relatives and friends who did not come back. It goes without saying how hard and dl1Ticutt it was to go back to a normal life, but we made It! I! For some years we did not even want to talk about it and I can understand now the reasons why. My family did not have to go through a DP's camp and I do not remember of any dose relative that had that experience. Two nieces of my paternal grandmother, Ada Luzzatto, who arrived to Rome from Auschwitz where their mother, two young brothers and grandmother were killed, could count on the family's support to get back on their feet and • be reborn• . Being then very young, and In reasonably good health, they made a miracle, and have had a rather normal life although, now, In their late seventies, are facing more difficult problems that are certainly connected with the horror of the lager, and this is a taboo topic which we do not want to discuss when I visit the one living In Venice, Italy. I am enclosing a copy of the above mentioned article which I think you might be Interested In reading. In closing I would like to mention the 1998 Oscar prized Italian movie "Life is beautiful.. which I assume you have seen and which has once again struck a very vivid chord of my personal experience. Shalom and~ regards. /J.1::..ft ·~ Luisa 'Xda A cano P.S. In the Video Libl3JY of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum you can find: J. A DEBT TO HONOR A Docomemary. Stories told! by the people who survn'Cd in Italy. 2. A taped inteMew with my cousin Vuginia Gatlegoo. Vcni<:e. ltaly 1991 3. A taped interview of myself for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Moseum 1993 The German Occupation of Rome:A Childhood Remembrance By LUISA AFFRICANO BORGIOTII Trying lo keep as calm as possi 'That fateful October 16th!" With ble under Ifie circumstances, my betflg discovered and even this grave phrase, my grandmother al mo1her took me and my liule sis punished for this ac t of generosity ways remembered the day in 1943 ter, Marla, up to the apartment of that showed his opposition to the when we abandoned our home in our tenants, Dr. Gawfl1 and his Germans. Rome and frantically looked for a hid wife As soon as the)' agreed lo hide After two 1Veeks, my motlier ing place where we hoped the Ger Marla and me my motlier kissed us came for us. We spent the next man police wouldn 'I find us. and was gone. e1g/1t montlis hidjng in convenis, or .In September of that same }'ear, The doctor and his wife instruct wit II relatives who were marrieu to Mussolini's Fascist government had edible trauma at bemg suddenly 1944 when Rome was liberated by cated by the fact that my father was separaterl fr()m our mu1her ior the out of the country. In 1938, he had first lime in our lives. the Americans. Ne,·erthle:,s, I cannot help fee/mg October 16, 1943 has passed into gone to North Africa to work for a profoundly sad wl1en I think of history as lhe day the Germans be large Italian firm. Soon after the 1 those uncertain days in which we gan deporting the Jews of Rome. British captured plant a11d he tl1e knew no1/1i11g aboul our mother Many never made the journey taken prisoner. We hadn't was and grandmo1her. At limes, I used back. Is ii hard to understand why hea1d from him in five years. to cry, hoping that no one would some of us were saved and others My mother carried on as best she see me. I was eight years old, but were not? could, taking care cf her two little Marta was only six. I felt responsi In his fast work, Lhe late Italian daughters and her 73-year-old writer Primo Levi, himself a survivor ble for consoling my lillle sister, mother in a city that llad become who criecl more openly because of Auschwitz, offers an explanation a German stronghold. she missed uur motlier. He says the Jews who survived must Now, nearly fifty years later, I still After getllng us seuled, our always remind the world about tile vemember the help that came to us mother and grandmolher immedi· Holocaust because if we forget that from compassionate Cath olic Auschwitz existed, it would be eas friends and acquaintances who un ately left tile apartment 10 look for ier to build a second Auschwitz. like us, did not find !11emse/v~ i11 a hiding place. They were taken in "And," writes Levi, "nothing as danger of being deported and sent for a few clays by a carpenter who sures us that this time, it would to concentration camps reserved • had recently done some work for devour only Jews .... " 0 for Jews. us. He lived on 1he outskif'ts of Those to whom we owe perl1aps Rome in a small apartment will> his our very lives and who, without a wife and lwo children. moment's hesitation, gave us all the This was a very dislurbin.g ex help they could, those generous perience for lhe two women who Luisa Affricano Borgiotti came lo people today are no longer here came to find themselves in sur the United States in 1965. She now b~t I will never forget, them, 110; rounc.Jings completely different lives in Falls Church, Virginia. will my gratitude ever fade. fwm wltal tltey were U!>e Dear Rabbi Friedman: Thank youi for your recent letter of February 25. As you say it was really a very emotional experience to attend the Life Reborn conference in Washington and it was very meaningful for me to participate. I was part1cularty touched by Elle Wiesel talk and once again I felt encouraged to talk about my ~llection of the war time. Since you asked I am ready to tell you a little more. I went through ttte Nazi persecution in Italy where I was born and lived till I came to the States In the sixties. During the war I was a very young kid, eight years old exactly when the racial laws caused a lot of troubles and anguish to the Italian Jews, and I will never forget, of course, what It was llke . Some years ago I wrote a short memo for the Italian magazine pubUshed by NIAF in DC, when people began to be very interested in the holocaust recollections of us survivors. After the war we could go right bade to our home in Rome and I consider myself very lucky of course, since I know of many relattves and friends who did not come back. It goes without saying how hard and difficult it was to go back to a nonnal life, but we made it!~ I For some years we did not even want to talk about it and I can understand now the reasons why. My family did not have to go through a DP's camp and I do not remember of any close relative that had that experience. Two nieces of my paternal grandmoth~r, Ada Luzzatto, who anived to Rome from Auschwitz where their mother, two young brothers and grandmother were killed, could count on the family's support to get bade on their feet and "be rebomN . Being then very young, and in reasonably good health, they made a mirade, and have had a rattler normal life although, now, in their late seventies, are facing more difficult problems that are certainly connected with the horror of the lager, and this Is a talboo topic which we do not want to discuss when I visit the one living In Venice, Italy. I am endosing a copy of the above mentioned artide which I think you might be interested in reading. In dosing I would like to mention the 1998 Oscar prtzed Italian movie "Life is beautiful" which I assume you have seen and which htas once again struck a very vivid chord of my personal experience. Shalom a~ best regards. fui. ttA- _J\-1,._.: c. c:-.---=> Luisa Ada A'ffricano P.S. In the Video Libraiy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum you can find: 1. A DEBT TO HONOR A Docnnv:nmy. Stom toJd by the people who survived in Italy. 2. A taped~ with my comin Virginia Oattcgno. Venice. Italy 1991 3. A taped interview ofmyself for tbe U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum 1993 Herbert A. fricdman 55; Maa,rsoo Ar~ 212-l556r:. Ni>:. ~or - N· ;. 'roflo. 10022 f.,. ~-" ~51 3739 Ms. Alice Wolk ~ 143 Hampton Circle Jupiter, FL 33458 March 28, 2000 Dear Ms. Wolk, Thank you for sending me your story It was touching in its honesty and so helpful because it was so personal. As l read it, I could feel some of your pain and agony and fear. Many books have been written about the Holocaust by great scholars; many museums have been erected. many conferences have been convened, the latest in Sweden. and a trial has recently occurred in London wherein a man has denied there ever was a Holocaust. There is great awareness in the world about Hitler' s's war to eradicate the Jewish people. But all this activity becomes real only when one student. one teenager. one person reads the story of what happened to another one, a victim. Your family was fortunate to have the help of Raoul Wallenberg, the Catholic Convent, and finally liberation by the Russian Army. Yes - l knew Chaplain Herman Dicker, and was delighted to learn that he married you Your story had a hapy ending. Sincerely yours. Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman March 16, 2000 Dear Rabbi Friedman, First of all let me Thank You for your fascinating story of your efforts in developing and greatly improving the lives of the survivors of the Holocaust or the DP ' s as we were called at that time. Perhaps you recall when I approached you to find out about Rabbi Herman Dicker, who was a U. S. Army Chaplain serving with the 5th Army unit in Munich. In 1948 October my Brooklyn born husband and I were married by him and happy to say we're still married. Unfortunately I ' ve learned soon after the Conference, that the Rabbi has past away in New York last summer. My story of survival may not be as graphic as of some of my fellow campers, but never the less it was a very painful ex perience, which can not be eraced from my memory. In 1944 on a brisk Sunday morning in March the German Army marched in to Budapest, Hungary, without a single bullet being fired in protest . I was not yet 15 years old. Almost immediately we were ordered to wear the yellow star of David, our movements were curtailed, peopl e were randomly picked up by the Gestappo and never seen again . Your neighbors some of your gentile friends suddenly did not wish to know you. In June of 1944 all Jews were to be consolidated to a designated "Jewish House", we a family of 5 walked out of our apartment with just one small bag of clothes and personal items, we shared a six room apartment with 20 people, where one kitchen and one bath was ours to organize a schedule to everyone ' s satisfaction. By November this overcrowding was reduced, with the daily raids by the Hungarian Arrow Cross guards accompanied by some SS men . First they took the men, my father and 24 yr old brother were taken to a labor camp outside Budapest . The four story building was half empty only older women and children under 18 were left. My mother's main concern was to hide my 17yr old sister and me be fore the next raid, but some of our gentile friends were afraid or only could offer one night stay . By some good fortune my mother was advised to see a man at the Swedish Embassy, after many hours of waiting among dozens of desperate people begging for help,she was given an address to a Catholic Convent and urged to take us there. Years later we learned the man my mother spoke with and gave us a safe haven was Raoul Wallenberg . Just before the siege of Budapest begun my father and brother managed to escape and contacted us at the convent, however my father was picked up and taken to the Getto in Budapest, but survived . My brother was hiding out at the Jesuit Seminary accros~ from our Convent along with 14 other jewish men. The Convent called St Anna hid 47 jewish women . On January 17th 1945 the Russian Army headed by Marshall Zhukov liberated us. 2 After our lives normalized a little,my brother sister and I felt there isn•t much future for us in a Communist Regime and decided to go to Vienna with some friends who were returning from Concentration camps to find they were the sole survivors of their families. And so our DP life began, eventually we all entered the United States . My parents are gone for many years, but there isn't a day that I don't Thank th~ Lord for how fortunate we were and that He spared us the Horrors some of our family and friends had to live through. Rabbi Friedman, again I Thank You for a most enjoyable speech and your sincere interest in our lives. Best Wishes, Sincerely J: ,~·l !'~ ,,~ J Alice (nee P~\-iak) Wolk 143 Hampton Circle Jupiter, FL 33458 March 16, 2000 Dear Rabbi Friedman, First of all let me Thank You for your fascinating story of your efforts in developing and greatly i mproving the lives of the survivors of the Holocaust or the DP ' s as we were called at that time . Perhaps you recall when I approached you to find out about Rabbi Herman Dicker, who was a U. S . Army Chaplain serving wi th the 5th Army unit in Munich. In 1948 October my Brooklyn born husband and I were married by him and happy to say we're still married . Unfortunately I ' ve learned soon after the Conference, that the Rabbi has past away in New York last summer . My story of survival may not be as graphic as of some of my fellow campers, but never the l ess it was a very painful ex perience, which can not be eraced from my memory . In 1944 on a brisk Sunday mor ning i n Ma r ch the German Army marched in t o Budapest, Hungary, without a single bullet being fired in protest. I was not yet 15 years old. Almost immediately we were ordered to wear the yellow star of David, our movements were curtailed , people wer e randomly picked up by the Gestappo and never seen again . Your neighbors some of your gentile friends suddenly did not wish to know you. In June of 1944 all Jews were to be consolidated to a designated "Jewish House'', we a family of 5 walked out of our apartment with just one small bag of clothes and per sonal items, we shared a six room apartment with 20 people, where one kitchen and one bath was ours to organize a schedule to everyone ' s satisfaction . By November this overcrowding was reduced, with the daily raids by the Hungarian Arrow Cross guards accompani ed by some SS men. First they took the men, my father and 24 yr old brother were taken to a labor camp outside Budapest . The four story building was half empty only older women and children under 18 were left . My mother ' s main concern was to hide my 17yr old sister and me be fore the next raid, but some of our gentile friends were afraid or only could offer one night stay . By some good fortune my mother was advised to see a man at the Swedish Embassy, after many hours of waiting among dozens of desperate people begging for help,she was given an addr ess to a Catholic Convent and urged to take us there . Years later we learned the man my mother spoke with and gave us a safe haven was Raoul Wallenberg. Just befor e the siege of Budapest begun my father and brother managed to escape and contacted us at the convent, however my father was picked up and taken to the Getto in Budapest, but survived. My brother was hiding out at the Jesuit Seminary accross from our Convent along with 14 other jewish men . The Convent called St Anna hid 47 jewish women. On January 17th 1945 the Russian Army headed by Marshall Zhukov liberated us . 2 After our lives normalized a little,my brother sister and I felt there isn't much future for us in a Communist Regime and decided to go to Vienna with some friends who were returning from Concentration camps to find they were the sole survivors of their families. And so our DP life began , eventually we all entered the United States. My parents are gone for many years, but there isn ' t a day that I don't Thank the Lord for how fortunate we were and that He spared us the Horrors some of our family and friends had to live through. Rabbi Friedman, again I Thank You for a most enjoyable speech and your sincere interest in our lives. Best Wishes, Sincerely ~~l J1!1 Alice (nee /;~\..rak) Wolk 143 Hampton Circle Jupiter, FL 33458 Herbert A. Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundanor- 551 Maoison Avenue 212 3556115 New York New York 10022 Fax 212 751 3739 Michael Gleiberman 1367 Colllltry Club Drive Lancaster, PA 17601 March 28, 2000 Dear Mr. Glieberman, Thank you for sending me your story. It was touching in its honesty and so helpful because it was so personal. As I read it, I could feel some of your pain and agony and fear. As you started to tell about the "clandestine journey" from Stettin to Berlin led by "two young Polish men", you said "I am assuming they were i111 the service of Aliyah Bet". Yes - they certainly were. As a matter of fact, whether you know it or not, the Haganah which was in command of Aliyah Bet, started its work in the far eastern Russian provinces of Uzbekistan, Azerbajan and Kazakhstan, where your family came from. The Aliyah Bet moved hundreds of thousands of survivors across Europe from east to west. The goal was to get into the American zone of Germany. I was a capitain (Chaplain) in the American Army, secretly recruited in the Haganah, stationed in Berlin. You came from Stettin by train, but most people came by truck. Every night six trucks left for Stettin from my house in Berlin. We did not meet because I was transferred from Berlin to Frankfurt in July 1946. Ifyou have another Berlin reunion in Lancaster, please let me know. Your story will make it easier for us to communicate the horror and the lessons to the next generation. The slogan "Never Again" is abstract; your personal experience is concrete. Thank you again for responding in your own words. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman 1367 Country Glub Drive Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601 March 15, 2000 Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundation 551 Madison Avenue - 9th Floor New York, NY 10022 Dear Rabbi Friedman: I did not have an opportunity to say hello at the Conference in Washington, so my greetings are coming to you via the U.S. mail. I was in Berlin - Schlachtensee - from September 1946 till the camp was relocated to West Germany ... I believe in 1948. After the camp closed, I stayed in Berlin and continued my studies at the Technical University in Berlin - Charlottenburg. I left Berlin in March '51 and came to the United States and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My journey to Berlin in '46 started in Stettin where my family- parents (Z'L}, two sisters and a brother arrived from Kazakhstan around June, 1946. I enrolled in a Kibutz and spent my four month in Stettin in one of the Stettin suburbs where the "Kibutz" was located. Finally, it was my turn to go to Berlin and my older sister, Hinda, joined me on this clandestine journey... led by two young Polish men. I am assuming they were in the service of Aliyah Bet. We met them at a railway station in Stettin and they escorted the group (about 14 or so) to an empty freight car. We au climbed in and closed the door and waited for the train to move. After some waiting, it moved ... made some stops ... we were told to keep quiet at every stop. Eventually, it stopped and we sat quietly waiting for it to move again; but the waiting turned into a much longer waiting period. Finally, the uguides" cracked the door open ... looked outside... discovered the locomotive was gone. They got out of the car, surveyed the area and told us we are within walking distance to the Pottsdam S-Bahn Station. They gave everyone a mark or two to buy tickets and told us not to talk to anyone. We left in twos and threes, walked to the station with our "peklach" (bundles). I asked for a ticket to Schlachtensee and waited for a train to arrive. The station was crawling with Russian soldiers and machine pistols (with the round magazines) hanging over their shoulders. We were especially cautioned not to talk !Russian to any of the Russian patrols. The train arrived and we boarded. At this point, I was only with my sister. The others were all separated. We boarded the train and reached a major hub in the S-Bahn system. I think it was Charlottenborg. I asked for directions for the train 0 to Schlachtensee. We managed to find it and we were on our way to our "new home • We had absolutely no idea what to expect ... what we'll find ... where we'll sleep ... But we were hopeful everything will tum out o. k. As I jot down these memories, I have a clear picture of arriving (walking from the station with the bundles) at the gate of the camp. I am not certain if there was an M.P. at the gate or only a camp policeman or two. We were ushered into an office on the left of the gate. We registered with our name, age, etc. and were assigned a room. The building was right across from the police building ... the first on the right as you go into the camp. It was a rather small room on the second floor. It had one bed and two army cots. One of the cots would be folded during the day so there was some room to move around. There were four of us sharing this room ... my sister Hinda, myself, a Mr. Shusheim and his young daughter. The bathrooms were at the end of the hall for the whole block... not sure how many rooms were in this block (#11 ). After a while, things got organized and we managed to adapt (actually by comparison, it was probably better than the "house" in Kazakhstan where I lived for five years. You know camp life so it is no use repeating it. I am assuming Rabbi, that you may have already left by September '46. I only recall Rabbi Abramowitz, who succeeded you. I volunteered to teach math in the Hebrew school that was formed (not sure if it already existed before September '46). In any event, I was the math teacher... teaching kids in Hebrew who knew no Hebrew and no math. To this day, I ask myself how I managed. My Hebrew was more than rusty. I did attend a gymnasium Tarbut before the war broke out and I had graduated from a Russian High School and had one year of a Russian Teacher's College. With no textbooks, no common language, and students that were as old as their teacher (in some instances), it was a struggle. I must admit I cherish the experience. Some of my x-students went on to graduate high school and college and built prnductive and successful lives. I started out just to write a few words, but if I don't stop; it could go on for many more pages. In the past, we had several Berlin Reunions at my hotel in Lancaster and maybe we'll organize another one in the near future. Of course, we'll extend an invitation to you. So for now, Shalom,L'Hitraot, Jt.utu~- Michael Gleiberman 1367 Country Club Drive Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601 March 15, 2000 Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundation 551 Madison Avenue- 9 th Floor New York, NY 10022 Dear Rabbi Friedman: I did not have an opportunity to say hello at the Conference in Washington, so my greetings are coming to you via the U.S. mail. I was in Berlin - Schlachtensee - from September 1946 till the camp was relocated to West Germany ... I believe in 1948. After the camp closed, I stayed in Berlin and continued my studies at the Technical University in Berlfn - Charlottenburg. I left Berlin in March '51 and came to the United States and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My journey to Berlin in '46 started in Stettin where my family- parents (Z'L), two sisters and a brother arrived from Kazakhstan around June, 1946. I enrolled in a Kibutz and spent my four month in Stettin in one of the Stettin suburbs where the "Kibutz" was located. Finally, it was my turn to go to Berlin and my older sister, Hinda, joined me on this clandestine journey.. . led by two young Polish men. I am assuming they were in the service of Aliyah Bet. We met them at a railway station in Stettin and they escorted the group (about 14 or so) to an empty freight car. We alll climbed in and closed the door and waited for the train to move. After some waiting, it moved ... made some stops ... we were told to keep qu'iet at every stop. Eventually, it stopped and we sat quietly waiting for it to move again; but the waiting turned into a much longer waiting period. Finally, the "guides" cracked the door open ... looked outside ... discovered the locomotive was gone. They got out of the car, surveyed the area and told us we are within walking distance to the Pottsdam S-Bahn Station They gave everyone a mark or two to buy tickets and told us not to talk to anyone. We left in twos and threes, walked to the station with our "peklach" (bundles). I asked for a ticket to Schlachtensee and waited for a train to arrive. The station was crawling with Russian soldiers and machine pistols (with the round magazines) hanging over their shoulders. We were especially cautioned not to talk Russian to any of the Russian patrols. The train arrived and we boarded. At this point, I was only with my sister. The others were all separated. We boarded the train and reached a major hub in the S-Bahn system. I think it was Charlottenborg. I asked for directions for the train to Schlachtensee. We managed to find it and we were on our way to our "new home". We had absolutely no idea what to expect... what we'll find .. . where we'll sleep ... But we were hopeful everything will turn out o.k. As I jot down these memories, I have a clear picture of arriving (walking from the station with the bundles) at the gate of the camp. I am not certain if there was an M.P. at the gate or only a camp policeman or two. We were ushered into an office on the left of the gate. We registered with our name, age, etc. and were assigned a room. The building was right across from the police building ... the first on the right as you go into the camp. It was a rather small room on the second floor. lit had one bed and two army cots. One of the cots would be folded during the day so there was some room to move around. There were four of us sharing this room ... my sister Hinda, myself, a Mr. Shusheim and his young daughter. The bathrooms were at the end of the hall for the whole block ... not sure how many rooms were in this block (#11 ). After a while, things got organized and we managed to adapt (actually by comparison, it was probably better than the "house" in Kazakhstan where I lived for five years. You know camp life so it is no use repeating it. I am assuming Rabbi, that you may have already left by September '46. I only recall Rabbi Abramowitz, who succeeded you. I volunteered to teach math in the Hebrew school that was formed (not sure if it already existed before September '46). In any event, I was the math teacher ... teaching kids in Hebrew who knew no Hebrew and no math. To this day, I ask myself how I managed. My Hebrew was more than rusty. I did attend a gymnasium Tarbut before the war broke out and I had graduated from a Russian High School and had one year of a Russian Teacher's College. With no textbooks, no common language, and students that were as old as their teacher (in some instances), it was a struggle. I must admit I cherish the experience. Some of my x-students went on to graduate high school and college and built productive and successful lives. I started out just to write a few words, but if ~ don't stop; it could go on for many more pages. In the past, we had several Berlin Reunions at my hotel in Lancaster and maybe we'll organize another one in the near future. Of course, we'll extend an invitation to you. So for now, i~Ul~- Michael Gleiberman PRAGMATRONICS, INC. 751 Left Fork Rd. Boulder, CO 80302-e252 (303) 4.. 4·4912 FAX (303) 444·4932 Walter Plywaskl 751 Left Fork Road Boulder, CO 80302-9252 Ph.: 303-444-4912 Fx.: 303-444-4932 e-mcll: [email protected] Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman The Wexner Heritage Foundation 551 Madison Avenue, g•h noor New York, NY 10022 2 Aprll 2000 Dear Rabbi Friedman! It was most kind of you to help rne during our phone conversations. Tine attachments here are for your information about me and definitely should have been sent before ... I became overbusy. Sorry I With sincere gratitude :"VLR POST A Tuesday. Match 28. 200C TED SEEN Holocaust memories renewed nthcdayPopcJohDPaw ll visited Yad Vashem, ls I rad's maln mt'morlal to . I OUle Holoc1UJt. 1 DenvH hotel ballroom wu filled wllh mm :. i and woawn wbo bad come to booor I I four people dodlcaled to makiq I 1uro tbo atroci ·: I ties or the . 1 WorldWarH Nazi death <'Ampa In p;u. ~Wiii DCl7t'r be foriott.en. RtrMm braoce I& Hope. •dinner bf:ne fltinc the Holo caust Awar. neN lr.stitate Joanne al the Unfnr- Davidson 11t1 or Oen vft"s Centa for Judaic Stcdles. paid tribute to £11111 and foe Ju:dak Studies md lbe MiHl tht Cenw-(cw JacWc St.wits : Freda Gold; Rabbt Stanley Wag Mc!eu:m of Jodaica. was nbbl of board; and Holoc:ant A• a~ .: ner. Fanny StMT ud Uie ~ B.'4H Confttptloa for Z3 yean lnstJUM c:balnnt'a Jay Moa~ or hfl' late busb&.od, Z..... Sterr. fOI' and was the filSt aJOd ooly r..t:.bi ~ ud o.vtc1 Zapler. ZapUcr and ~ t.be tlmt lhfy ha Ye d~ to hon ..-ve u cbapiaiD of t.be Colorado wile. JOlft, bad u tbN' pests ~ orin( the memory or tho6c who Slate ~a.ate. He came to Denver in Nortll lfilb SCbool Princlpal ~· perisbtXI and to keeJ>lnl alive the 1971 aft.er serving two years as na s.ndoYal aDd bis v;ile. Chris. F~ veir "'never a1aln.' Uooal exeoili"e vice presidmt of mer dinner chllrwoman Neme ~ Brotllers Emil Gold and Zua I.be Religious Zionists oC AmericL Mee Dutnan and her husband, .; St.arr, ul!11ts of Polaod, were ln Rls soo-ln-1aw. Rabbj Yaakov Louis, dbcovertd lbcy Wre a .: leroed at sever.al c:amps, lncludlng Meyer, delivered the evening's io happy occasion with Rabbi Denl9' Auschwitz and Beraen-Belsen. vocaUon. Goldberger and f\11 wife, let.: Both where they were liberated by the The diooer's success can be at couples have~ married 53 ; l:Jrilisb ln 1945. It was al Bergen· tributed to lhe popularity of the ye&l"S, and th~ Goldbt•rgen were • Bt-ISt!n that St.arr met 11nd lcll ln honorees, and to Lhe hard work or a celcbralln.I I.heir annfvcrury by • IO\'C with Fanny; I.hey were mar leaden.hip team made up of chair attendi.nl t\emcmbranct- a. Uope.: ried in January 1941 and selUed in persons Fr.tde Miklin, Dr. Jerry S. Denvu lo Uli&. l\ wH ber• they Mlklln and Dr. William Silvefe, OUwtr ,ue1LI lnclu~ Reeb Uni raised Uleir thrH c.~dttn - Hl! 41'.d coord::latws $halon Fnman vetlily Praidenl Fat.her John : da. Mori. and H•len - IAd toot and Leland Hutt.'""'. ShHran; Burt IJ>d E.,.,,.. Goml their story ol borTOr and wrvlval ·Letaod doesn't leavt' a single fetd ~ Henry Lowenstein; Jame.. - to ICboolcbild.reJl throU(boul Ule stone unt.umed,"Observed Lee a.od Joy Hoffm.,: Dr. Ray Oot-:: lla.t.e. z.a died in o.ctmbcr, Kar, ooe of five hooorary cbalr i.ateld; Bob a.ad Toni Bins10Ckf: ibortJy bdo~ Jeff, one of biJ l•-o men. ..rm surprisied II.ii friends are Sandy Vlnnlkj *k and JOMtle. graadsom, wa.s mamed. ruU Lalk.in& to him." Henman; ud AnU·DefamaUOD • After bis libent.io.n, Emil Cold The din.ou, in CacL was O\-ersold. Leape Director Saul Roaentllal. [oqhl In the Israeli army cturini and check-ill mhlct.ee.-s &1eflie ~~~~~~~~~--y t.be Warol lndept~. and m Klubock a.cd 5andra Al1dn fttt Dra~·er Past Sodctr EdJlorJo:' 19Sl camt to the Unitm States bpt busy dispentjng table assi(D ~ llarid.toa ~ colamD ·~· .-ith bis wife, Gba.. a.nd lMlr mt11ts to fol.b Like Gov. 811 Ow· ~ery d•r uctpt S.hud1p. Er : daughters Rilld, Victoria and •ne; E. ames Judd. ct:;;urm.vi ot 111il11 lieut jmdponl}.ol. com. :: Maf)'. Alter Giza's ~th iD I.be 1180.. Gold bet-amc r.-cquain~ ROCKY MOUNTAIN USDl"' ..,;lb Freda.• loqtime family friend.. Tbey were marrted nine LASER HAIR REMOVAL ye.rs a(o. and now devott much ol Comomtt Ulnk:lll Stadia ,. lbdr Ume to educating the commu· DiKo8QI al~n fO p.vtkf~: nity about the HolOt'IUllt. C303) 778·6564 Photcgupha of many of the Be> locaust survivors who llve In ColC> rado were projected on a acreen durlng dinner; the framed orll{lnal1 were displayed In the Downlown ,SHAPE UP! Hvatt Reaencv's lm~rlal Ball· .· FAMILY TREE 3-15-99.doc Abram lajzor Pfywacki {Agudath Israel party) {Maks' uncle?): John & Mildred Waitt Use Win Word's Drawing Tool Bar previous vice-chairman of Lodz Kehila (Jewish Community Council} Portland, OR, Deceased. Maks Plywackj's parents: I ~ elected chairman 9112139; replaced by Germans with Mordechai Chaim names & b,dates unkn. L.---- Rumkowski 11113139 (later ·0er Aelteste der Juden In Lizmannstadt). Fischer parents, nama & b,dates unkn. Probablv kiUed bv Germans 11139 with 22 of 30 oth« Kehila members. Louise Je.11nette Pfywaski {nee PL YWACKI CHILDREN Waitt): b. 21fl/34, Portland, OR. BA Sci.Eden., Oregon State Pfywacka, Regina: b. 10 Jan 1905 of Wladyslaw: b. 8110/29 in Poland. US citizen Lodz, College, 1957. Computer OrthodoX family but lived an energetic modem Maksymiljan Jozef, b. 10/10/1893 1956 as Walter Plywaskl; BSEE 1957, Oregon State programming & ~ineering on life after marriage. Kept her husband's near Krakow, Poland. Beaten to dea.th College. Marrieo (4155-7182) Louise J. Waitt, Portland, space technology at Martin. pharmacy from disastef canying lnvertory in Riedertoh KZ -113145. First an OR. Escaped from KZs twice, once from Tur1 Adam: coal broker to Lodz textlle '--Wl-od_z_imi- _e_rz_:_b_. -240ct--1-93_ 1 _as_F_ia_lk_o_. w-.;-adopt--ed-by--'~ ~ Fischer, Henryk I b. 1901? TB In ghetto; factories. Common law catholic vtffe l Maks In Lodz •ghetto•, winter 1941-42. us citizen as 1 murdered 1940 In Stutthof KZ (RIF soap?) Jadwiga (Jadzla) who once/week William Plywa.sJti; Ph.D. Theor.Physics Univ. of ferried him "Ge!man store" food {J.O(Tl Lodz to Warsaw Nov/39Mar/40 (got Colorado, 1967. Escaped Dachau II with Wladyslaw & ~ i.... ~ - ' - • Flalko, Jozef (Mitja): b.d. un.kn. in Russian ·German s'. ·-e· privilege by sleeping left for US with a Red Cross Field director from ...,. ' ' ' occupied Lithuania. Cavally officer in tzarist with a V -; '6deutsche {Polish ethnic Marseille In Jan 1946. r r Jldef. CO. army fighting in Crimea & Caucasus r.ii ~ of Gemlan). i 1am, best-dressed man of ------. --..... starvation and tuberculosis, Lodz !lhettO Lodz & my ..est uncle hanged hinself Rhonda Plywaski, -r ee ----''---~ I • I lln -911940. Burgdorff}: b. 2/22139. ~---1;~ No children. PLVWASKI Cti1i.QR~N------in a Warsaw haltwav on.-311 51 1941 . 1 1 Russel.I & Felicja (mrrd. Fajertag): b. d. unkn.; Cybele, b. 5115165 in Boulder, CO. Dawn Mannell, Sydney, widow in '39. Worked with, or aver, BA (Magna Cum Laude) Modern "'lll Rumkowsld In Jev.ish orphanages prior East European History, Univ. of Jason MannelJ, b. 7/17169 In to VVW2. Ran ghetto orphanage till end Colorado 1991; MBA CU/Denver ~ Sydney, Australia. BA Mass 1/12199. Res. in Boulder. CO. Communications, SydneyUnlv. of '43 when its orphans were shipped to FaJ·e,..,.,. father:, ARR DEP. LOCATIONS DESCRIPTION KNOWN WORKED FOR DEATHS 8/10/29 4/10/34 Zwirki & Wigury Street, Som in a hospital; parents' apartments. Named Lodz, Poland Wladyslaw Plywacki. Had a beloved Gentile wet- nurse; she visited till WW2. 4/10/34 1211/39 #11 Andrzeja (now A. Parents' apartments & pharmacy; attending Struga) Street, Lodz, Poland Spoleczne Gymanzjum school, Sep1937-0ct 1939. Grammar school stopped by Germans' order after one month of third grade. 2/15/40 8/10/44 LODZ "GHETIO"(urban Overcrowding, disease, starvation, & deportations to -40 family Elektrizitaet concentration camp):16 death-camps. At the very end of the Mghetto" hid for members Abteilung Zgierska St., 36 Zgierska about 6 weeks in the attic of the house in Marysin (Electric "resort") St., & a house in Marysin near the ghetto's border. Forced by heat & hunger to .. AEG? ' surrender & go with one of the last transports to - Auschwitz. - - 8/10/44 8/15/44 =reight cars, - 5 days,. f Unknown dest.nation to most; known to me and -30, no family Maks. No water/little food; -100 people/car, approx. meml:>ers 25% mortality. 8/15/44 9/25/44 Auschwitz-2 (Birkenau) Gas-chambers & crematoria. Wait to be murdered Mother & other death camp after "selections". A week in quarantine barracks, family gassed then men's camp. Brother & I in Mengele's barracks (see aFamily 2 days; smuggled out by a Polish Gentile male block tree•) Ka po. 9/25/44 9/13/44 Freight cars, 3 days. No water/little food; -90 people in our cattle car, approx. 15% mortality. 9/28/44 11 /10/44 Kaufering-4 concentration Labor on potato harvest & construction of concrete Unknown; camp buildings. Barracks were rectangular holes in the Luftwaffe? earth with earth bunks & roof at ·ground level 11/10/44 11/28/44 Kaufering-11 (Landsberg?) Labor on a fighter plane landing strip; someone Luftwaffe? concentration camp sabotaged the strip causing all on that Kommando to be shipped to Riederfoh camp. 11/28/44 11/28/44 Rieder1oh punishment Earth-bunker construction for explosives. Father, Father. Beaten to German Nobel concentration camp. Maks Plywacki beaten to death by camp's death. (also see Dynamite Factory commander after Maks yelled insults at the shit. I File "Riederf oh") saw it being done and tried to stop it with no result; Maks died two days later. 1/15/45 1/30/45 Dachau-1 concentration We arrive only 250 from the initial 2, 000. In camp "hospital" (suffering from "phlegmon") as malaria guinea pig; rescued by Polish male nurses & then rejoined brother in quarantine barracks. I'm made a camp "Laufer'' (runner). 1/30/45 2115/45 Luftnachrichten Kaserne Messerschmidt Augsburg plant for production of Messerschmidt (Augsburg); Concentration ME-236 jet fighters. Both I & brother get some camp in a concrete hangar contacts with the German "green" (criminal} Kapos & some extra food. 2115/45 3/15/45 Burgau concentration camp Messerschmidt plant for production of ME-236 jet Messerschmidt fighters in nearby forest by the Autobahn. Camp faced the road & was exterminated with flame throwers after we left. 3/15/45 3/30/45 Turkheim concentration Various & random labor. Escape & secretly return camp since brother unable to escape. Succeeded in stealing 2 pairs of boots for tha projected march. 3/30/4;i 4/4/45 Marching to Oachau-1 Very brutal & underfed/watered death march. Don't know how many killed dt ,. .1g SS "games" of random shootings at prisoners le r ping water in streams; village children throw sto: .ss & ask the SS to kill some of us. 4/4/45 4115/45 Dachau-2 (Kar1sfeld} Escaped during bombardment. concentration camp 4/15/45 511545 ''Captured" by American US Army Infantry. Approx. weight 90 lbs; 1 month Translator & Infantry later about 120 lbs. gofer. 5/1545 5/1/47 A "mascot" general helper & US Army; various US Army units. Most meaning ful US Army in civilian employee was our stay with the 278th Field Artillery Battallion, Europe Battery C, under Captain John Van Arsdale. 5/1/47 5/15/47 Travelling in France to No ID papers acceptable in France once not with US LaHavre & Cherbourg Army. Bribed myself out of arrest by Securite in LaHavre & departed immediately for Cherbourg 5/15/47 6/15/47 Stow-away on freighter New York bound via Liverpool. Painted entire ship to ''Charles D. Poston" get freedom of the vessel. Immigration refused to let the captain dump me in Liverpool. 6/15/47 12116/47 Ellis Island, NY Harbor Slept in a huge boys• dormitory. Work to stave off boredom. 12116147 12116/48 Philadelphia, PA Working as a"printer's devil" at Flexton Corp.'s plastics plant, Conshohocken. PA. 12116/48 10/30/52 US Air Force Radio school instructor & radio maintenance chief; USAF St. Louis MO/Wash., DC/Okinawa. 10/30/52 9/1/54 Various US locations 2 9/1/54 6/30/59 Oregon State Univ., Began studies in English Literature but since bored, BSEE, Corvallis, OR transferred to Electrical Engineering; some post- Communications graduate courses in mathematics & EE. 6/30/59 7/30/59 Travellino in US None (self-funded sabbatical) 7/30/59 6/31/52 Burbank, California System & circuit design: Naval Tactical Defense Collins Radio Co. System, solid state disc filters, & production test equipment 6/31/52 8/1/62 Denver (Loookout Mtn.), CO Tuning fork filter design Hamilton- Hathaway Co. 8/1 /62 8/1/63 Denver (Loookout Mtn.), CO Quality Control on Titan 1 & 2 missiles, operations Martin-Marrietta research in war-games and corporate strategies. Corp. 8/1/63 11/2164 Travelling in Europe with None (self-funded sabbatical) wife 11/2164 2125/65 Denver (Loookout Mtn.), CO Entrepreneurial start-up from Lookout Mountain Pragmatronics house west of Denver; became insolvent (ownership) - ~2125165 . 6/26/65 Boulder, Colorado GS-14 Senior Electronics Engineer NBS/NOAA: 6/26/65 present 751 Left Fork Road, Local Area Network production and maintenance in Pragmatronics Boulder, co 80302-~;. s2 Boulder offices; now (since - 10 ye·.3.'S) consulting inc. and tale-reselling various tools & m~chines from my I mountain home. File: Chronology of Walter Plywaski, new.doc 412100 12:49 PM 3 Herber1 A. Friedman Tne V'l.:xnei Heniage Foundatoo 551 Madison A11enue 212 3556115 ~ Yotk. New York 10022 Fax 212 751 3739 ~ ~' (J/ y /,J<-Jti - ~ we/Ji- ~1,·..,.,(..,_V(!JL I ~ n W....0. r'{\ ai1{~ (Y\. ,iJ f NC C 'i t'Df\.) ~ vt.c1._ fwo ~'5 ~/ ~ !). ~ );"'"7 h~t.,,.._ """" ~{ uA. I pl et CJf ~s fs~'' "J"'i.{ to A.A.A- J._,,,.r 1""' ~"(.~ ~ ~~ f 1,...,.._ /i}f- - ~ -fo ~ t ~ ~. r..t'l..;'J ~-.,.J.. ~~ f'M- 1'1~ii's. 11 :f ...,,f)ccJ._ ~ 7...-.. ~ ~'/, '/-.JJ.. it'\ O~t.... L ii u-S· D.A.--r rrw- ivt.J ~ tti.~cJ.. T"f'"'lYr f);v,)1~1 "'tc.K-"Ct.~J ~ '' R~li\~6••_,' ' b,...c.Mdt ,1- /...MJ.. b /ad(. 0;v,\i..,._ I ~ ~~ ~,{J'ttrS ~ y,Jl. ,.,. ~1c.J).c.. . } ~~ ~ ~ #- q ,..._ .T~Jot41Yt {);v ; ~ci-, .. rj)J.-J. Ar ~'t , (}...... ~ p.. f-fu.- l.~"' .. 4"' ~·t . l.M-. his-- 4.<. .,.0 ~ " "J'tlt.. ~r.. e-"""' 1 , ;... tf3 o VL-\.1'0.. . r µ..J.. fh4' r wLA-L- t-.\ ~"'-,S~""7 , L• ..,,J~1t.r, . I /{,._t ~Sit. (Ju..t1 h>-~~ ~ ~fu·~ D· P. l Ot's pJ .. c.-0... p._r-5~) ('-""'f S ...,~ f>..t.. ~ '-'-S ~· ' .--~-~ 'o1'1 ti'\~ flc_. 44Ml I J: ""' ~ R~ .:r 1-. ...1>4- e.w... .. ,,...vJL ,·V' t~"~,. t ~ 'B - ~" fk- ' ti.A•'"'"' • ~Q. ,u..1\....._... ,42 ~" (~'ft- I,.f ~ . ! ((\lo4_ ~ p~ t ~ 4 •S • .. ..~ ~ ~i t."' Js ,·"' g•~ Lcl e.r 4..~ u.A1.L . ~ P it"'. 'l.v-N f<" lJ- ~ I ~·h. ~1 c.I'- ? {)w..e- ~~ , («A~ (h...J(s ~ y~ ~ J;a.y'UW'S. ~ ~ ~o-s"f- ~I--'- · C) ,' ~~ I ~ - P....:ui~--- To: [email protected] Subject: Memoirs • Date sent: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 10:17:35 Dear Ronnie, Thank you for responding to our letter about sending your story to the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at the World Jewish Congress. I am writing to you to confirm that we received Marianne's story, and we will forward it to the World Jewish Congress in her name. This is an important project that will help preserve the testimonies survivors, so the lessons learned and the people who perished during the Holocaust are never forgotten. Again, we want to thank you for sharing your story. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to call me, Jamie Goldberg, Rabbi Herbert Friedman's assistant, at 212-355-6115. You may also contact Ms. Yudin at the Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project at 914-722-1880. I hope you and your family are having a happy and • healthy New Year. ff Shalom, Jamie Goldberg Jamie Goldberg . . 1 .. Fri, 10 Nov 2000 10:17:35 October 24, 2000 Dear Ronnie. Many thanks for sending us the heartbreaking story of your parents, ending with the ironic fact that the Nazis who persecuted them ended up with good jobs and reparations money, while your father received nothing and your mother was executed. Enclosed are two articles which appeared recently in The New York Times and the New York Jewish Week .. Your story is written so well that you should submit it. We send best wishes for a healthy New Year. Most Sincerely. Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman P. S. The address to which you should send it is: Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Project c/o World Jewish Congress 50 I Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 Attention: Charlotte Trepman Yudin Tfyou want to save the trouble, I would be happy to submit it on your behalf. Just let me know. Subj: Your kind letter Date: 10/30/00 6:11:51 AM Pacific Standard Time From: [email protected] (rgolz) Sender: [email protected] Reply-to: [email protected] (rgolz) To: [email protected] Sender: [email protected] Receiwd: from mailout02.sul.t-online.com (mailout02.sul.t-online.com [194.25.134.17]) by sphmgaad.compuserw.com (8.9.3/~.3/SUN-1.9) with ESMTP id JAA15380 for Dear Herbert, Thank you wry, very much for your kind remarks about my article on Marianne Golz! It was a pleasure to hear from you again. I was looking at those wonderful photos Francine sent the other day and it brought back warm memories of our trip into the past here in Berlin. As far as publishing the Marianne article is concerned, I'd rather leaw it to you to promote the story as you know the people in the newspapers who might be interested. One point is, howewr, important. ~ne wasn't my mother, but the first wife of my father. Thanks again and please pass my warmest greetings to Francine! Shana Tova! Ronnie Suarez St.39, 14057 Ber1in-Charlottenburg, Germany Tel: +49-(0)30-3217686 I Fax: +49-(0)30-3257652 I Mobile: +49-(0)177-3217686 Websites: www.alib.de www.rgolz.de www.pitigliano.de -----Headers------ Return-Path: Wednesday, November 08, 2000 CompuServe: Frfrledman Page: 1 By Ron11ie Golz Preface In February 1960, my father learnt that the Federal Republic of Germany was going to pay him DM 1.500,- for the 'deprivation of liberty' (i.e. imprisonment) of his wife, Marianne Golz-Goldlust between November 19th, 1942 and October 8th, 1943 (4.43 p.m.) in Prague Pancraz prison.1 Till today, no restitution has been offered for what happened at 16.44 p.m. On the other hand, a Herr Alois Weiss received remuneration of Reichs Mark 30,- on 1 October 3ls, 1943 from the state attorney's office at the Deutsche Landgericht (High German Court) in Prague for his work at Prague Pancraz prison. 2 Entry 219 in the prison record book states the following: Golzova, Maritume born. 30.1.1895 Vienna BKls 90143 25.5.43 8.10.43 16.44 hours At precisely 4.44 p.m. on October 8111, 1943, Alois Weiss an executioner wound up case '8 Kls 90 I 43' of the Special German High Court in Prague. 3 The Search for Marianne Begins I was born in London in 1947. My mother, Ida Reiss, Jewish refugee from Straznice in Moravia, met my father in 1940 in London. My parents brought me up to be neither German nor Jewjsh. When they returned to West Germany in 1960, the story of our family caught me up step by step. The search for my own identity took a long time. The sense of feeling 'Jewish' became stronger and stronger, while my knowledge of the fate of my family remained minute. In 1985 I read a book "Wir wissen nicht was morgen wird, wir wissen wohl was gestern war" by Peter Sichrovsky ("We don't know about tomorrow, but we definitely know about yesterday'~. The following sentence is part of the dedication: "For my grand parents who I'll never forget, even though I never got to know them." 4 The book describes the difficult search by 15 Berlin and Viennese Jews, who were born after 1945, for their identity. In some of the cases described, the parents were already dead and could therefore not answer their children's questions. I recognised my own situation. 1 Document of the Berlin restitution agency of February l21h, 1960. 2 51 Excerpt from the files of the state attorney's office at the Gennan High Court in Prague of October 31 , 1943 dealing with the 'Work chart ofexecutioner Alois Weiss and special remuneration, travel expenses and sundry expenses in October 1943 in the cont'l!Xl ofthe execUJion ofdeath sentences. Entry 31: Gol=-Goldlust, Marianne. 3 Today, death row and the execution hall at Praque Pancraz prison are a public memorial. The prison record book listing the executions is also on exhibit. 4 Peter Sicbrovsky, "Wir wissen nicht was morgen wird, wir wissen wohl was gestern war. Junge Juden in Deutschland und OEsterreich" Kiepenheuer & Witscb. Koeln 1985. many questions I had? Suddenly I had a brainstorm: I began to search for the files of my father's restitution claim and found them at the offices of the Berlin restitution agency. After his return to Germany in 1960, my father was obliged to sue the Federal Republic because their restitution agency refused to recognize certain physical ailments that he was suffering from as resulting from his forced emigration to Britain in 193 9. In the context of the court hearing my father had to undergo a psychiatric examination. His restitution file included the comprehensive report by the psychiatrist of this examination. It was more or less a commented Curriculum Vitae. And so, one morning, back in 1985, I sat in a drab public office in Berlin-Schoeneberg with a large and tinted file in front of me and started to read. The following paragraph drew my attention to Marianne: "My wife Marianne wanted (in Summer 1939) to follow me to England. But as the war broke out this possibility was over. She was never afraid and immediately started to help Czechs and Jews to escape via Vienna to Italy. She took up links to the Gestapo and knew who she could bribe to get atfalse documentations. Czechs, Germans and Jews met once a week at her apartment. The group was betrayed and arrested during one of the meetings. The Jews were deported to the concentration camps while the Czechs and my wife were put on trial. In 1943 my wife was sentenced to death at the guillotine. She spent weeks in the death cell and was only executed at the end of1943. The fate ofmy wife is described in a book that a Czech, employed by the Germans as prison photographer, published after the war. The book is titled 'Zaluji' (Czech/or 'I accuse/. This man wrote about my wife and there's also a prison photo ofher in the book. Furthermore, secret letters she wrote to her sister that were smuggled out ofthe prison, were published in the book " 5 Suddenly I remembered that my father had mentioned that he had been married before and that he had loved that woman a lot, and that the Nazis had murdered her. I just had to find that photo and see what she looked like. A fow weeks later I held the book in hand and looked at Marianne's photo. I also realised, even though I do not speak Czech, that at least 20 pages dealt with her. The subsequent translation by a friend led to a multitude of feelings within me. "Marianne Golz was from Vienna. A very intelligent woman aged 48 with grey hair. Not even in this filthy hole did Marianne lose the greatness of her personality. If one mentioned a 'gentle lady ofgreat spirit' in these poor and pitiless circumstances, then it 5 Excerpt from the psycbiatric report in the files of the Berlin restitution agency. the prisoners.. She was loved by all and very popular because ofher positive thoughts and her political foresight. Marianne knew, a few days beforehand, about her pending execution. That is why she got hold ofpoison and took it while in the death cell. The wardens found her in a deep and deathly coma and were scared about investigations on how she got hold of the poison. They thus dragged her in front of the state attorney and she was beheaded in an 'unconscious' state." 6 Marianne's Life Maria Agnes Belokosztolszky was born in Vienna-Hernals on January 30th, 1895. Her family were Catholic. Her father was Polish, her mother Czech. After high school graduation in Vienna she attended courses to become a ballet dancer and opera singer and chose the stage name, Marianne Tolska. She is first mentioned as an opera singer in July 1921, when she appeared on stage with the Viennese Raimund Theatre during a guest performance in Linz. Marianne wrote about herself in retrospect: "I remember when I was 26 years old. I didn't feel that young at all and certainly wasn't childlike. I rejected all parts where I was expected to play 'youngsters'. I didn't want to be young at all. And by the way, I wasn't anyway. I was more mature than others and married while still very young. I always mixed with older women, and at the age of 26 was self supporting and already a wealthy woman. " 7 0 July 12th, 1922 she appeared in Stuttgart in the operetta 'Viennese Blood. "How nice that the theatre has succeeded in staging this delightful operetta in such a satisfactory manner. Dancer Marianne Tolska doesn't only look attractive but acts and sings a lot better than in the past. What good can a little rest do!" 8 Between October 1922 and September 1924 Marianne is a memlber of the Salzburg City Theatre ensemble. This is where she meets Nico Dostal the Austrian operetta composer. Dostal writes: "My first season under the directorship of Mr. Stria! in Salzburg was unproblematic. It was he who brought the singers Rudolf Worelli and Marianne To/ska to Salzburg. Marianne was to play a role in my later life. Before we brought the operetta 'Madame 6 "ZaluF' ('I accuse' 2 Volumes. Published by R. Karel, Orbis Publishers, Prague 1946. Vol.l: P. 196 - 221. Photo of Marianne Golz-Goldlust in Vol. 2. 7 Secret message by Marianne Golz of28.9. l 943 to Richard Macha in Prag-Pankratz prison. "Zaluji"loc.cit. 8 Stuttgarter Nachrichten 13th, July 1922. Fritzi Massary performing as Madame Pompadour at the Carl Theatre. Tolska copied all she had seen during Massary's performance and proved to be a splendid Pompadour. " 9 The peak of Marianne's career was her joint appearance alongside Richard Tauber in 'Die Fledermaus' on July 30th, 1923 at the Salzburg City Theatre. "The 'Fledermaus' with Richard Tauber as Eisenstein was, as expected, a tremendous success. The famous guest's usual quick and tempered performance as well as his wonderful and well-kept tenor voice made the evening unforgettable. But it also should be mentioned that some of the focal talents do not have to stand behind Mr. Taube: Miss Tolska was well suitedfor her role. 1110 On July 16th, 1923 just 14 days before, Marianne had married the Viennese music publisher Ernst Wengraf. In 1924 they moved to Berlin, where he had opened an office. It was her second marriage. Nico Dostal later wrote about his time in Berlin: ''As I climbed off then train at Anhalt Station I immediately felt at home. First of all, I joined the circle around Marianne Tolska-Wengraf who, by then, was divorced from her husband but in mutual understanding. Marianne used to surround herself at her flat on Wittenberg Platz with dynamic people from the theatre and advertising branches. It was possible to get to know all sorts ofpeople and make useful contacts. " 11 Marianne probably met my father, Hans Werner Goldlust during one of these meetings in 1924. He was then head of the advertising and distribution department of the Literarischer Welt that was published by the well known Rowohlt Publishing Co. My father adopted the name 'Golz' in the early 20's, because as an assimilated Jew he rejected the stigmatisation by 'Jewish' names, such as 'Goldlust'. He never officially registered his new name with the authorities so as not to offend his father. This is the reason why Marianne had the hyphened name: 'Golz-Goldlust!. Willy Haas was the editor-in-chief of the Literarischer Welt. When Rowohlt decided to sell the magazine in spring 1927, Willy Haas and my father purchased it and subsequently my father became managing director. 5 On March 21 \ 1929 Marianne and Hans married in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Hans Golz writes about his wife: 9 Nico Dostal "Ans Ende deiner Traeume kommst du nie"(You'/I Never Reach the End ofYour Dreams) Lied der Zeit, Musikverlag Berlin (GDR), 1986. Pp. 11n2. 10 Salzburger Tageblatt ofAugust !st, 1923. 11 Nico Dostal toe. cit. was always a strong support. I could always rely on her. She was always optimistic and believed that she would never suffer problems in life and that I need not worry about her." 12 And Marianne's niece Erika Haala adds: "She was a very beautiful and impressive woman. She liked wearing bright colours and she was always well dressed. She was a very striking and dominant person: full of life, energy and vitality. I spent quite some time thinking about the word 'joy oflife'. I think it's the wrong term. 'Vitality' fits better, someone who was very dominant. Wherever she appeared she was always the attraction. Whether it stemmed.from her stage-work or from her temperament, I cannot say, but it certainly had an effect on all ofus. She was a woman with lots of charm, lots of warmth and full of happiness. She was my very much-loved aunt." 13 When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans Golz and Willy Haas were aware of the danger for Jews. They quickly sold the magazine in March 1933 and subsequently emigrated to Prague with their wives in 1934. "Will Haas and I, tried to open a new magazine 'Die Welt im Worl' (I'he World of Word) with Orbis Publishing Co. We had taken the list ofsubscribers of the 'Literarischer Welt' with us and we hoped we would be able to distribute the magazine throughout Germany from Prague. But this proved impossible. Jn 1935 I took up work as the representative of the French news agency 'Mitropress' and also wrote for the 'Neue Wiener Journal'." 14 It appears that Marianne did not work as an opera singer during their stay in Prague. In 1936 both the parents and sister of Hans Golz emigrated from Berllin to Prague. Ma rianne's Arrest On March 15th, 1939 the Nazis occupied the Czech Republic. Hans Golz immediately fled Prague and reached England via Poland and the Baltic in the summer of 1939. The extensive correspondence between Rosa Goldlust in Prague and her children Hans and Ema in London shows that Marianne stayed on in Prague to help her parents- and sister-in law to escape and at the same time to wind up her flat 15 12 Excerpt from the psychiatric report in the files of the Berlin restitution agency. 13 Interview with Erika Haala in July 1987. Excerpt from the NDR documentary film: "One's Own Story-The Letters of Marianne Golz from Prag-Pankratz Prison'~ 14 Excerpt from the psychiatric report in the files of the Berlin restitution agency. 15 Letters from Prague from Rosa Goldlust and Ilse Neumann (nee Golz) to Hans Golz and Ema Rosenberg (nee Golz) in London of28.04.1939, LO. 6.39, 14.08.1939, 18.08.1939, 26.08.39, 01.09.39, 25.09.39, 18.10.39, 30.10.39, 06.12.39. husband in London, she did not succeed in leaving the Czech Republic that was now called 51 16 'Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia' before the war broke out on September 1 , 1939. The sources covering the period of her trial and execution on October 8th, 1943 are multiple. They comprise of: • statements by Erika Haala, Marianne's niece, • a letter from Dr. Fried.rich Seidl, a former tenant in Marianne's flat in Prague during the war, • an interview with Erna Steiner, who together with her mother and others was arrested by the Gestapo at Marianne's flat on the evening of November 19lh 1942, • Excerpts from the German state attorney's accusations and from the court ruling of the Special German High Court in Prague on May 18tb, 1943 referring to Marianne and the crimes she was purported to have committed, • written statements by Marianne from official prison letters exchanged with her sister Rosi in Vienna and from smuggled secret letters, that Marianne sent to, her sister between her arrest on November 19th, 1942 and her death on October 8th, 1943 and finally from •excerpts from secret messages that Marianne exchanged with her co-prisoner Richard Macha and the prison photographer R. Karel that were published in the book "Zaluji" ('I Accuse'') in 1946 in Prague. From all of these sources the following picture evolves: As of 1939, Marianne belonged to a resistance group that helped Jews to get out of Prague by procuring faked ID-cards and travel documents. Marianne succeeded in saving part of the refugee's monies by transferring them to her sister Rosi in Vienna. "Through some kind of source at the Gestapo, Marianne knew who was to be deported next. These people were contacted and were helped by some kind of organisation across the border at night. My mother then received their money." 17 ''I only distantly knew Mrs. Golz. As we used an encrypted name's list, I never knew she was called 'Golz' until she turned up at my mother's shop one day. That's when I recognized her. Marianne permanently and deliberately helped Jews to escape. She was a 16 Letter by Rosa Goldlust of26.078. l 939. 17 Interview with Erika Haala in July 1987. Excerpt from the NDR documentary film:. "One's Own Story- The letters of Marianne Goizfrom Prag-Pankratz Prison". became known she would shoulder the responsibility." 18 Th.ere is mention that Marianne even succeeded in getting people out of the Theresienstadt Ghetto. With the help of a secret contact and by way of her husband, information about what was going on in Prague reached the Czech Government in exile in London. 19 Every second Thursday a 'social meeting' took place at Marianne's apartment m the evening. "!recollect that I, and a friend once or twice took part in such meetings, where the greater part of the participants where people on the run, hiding from the Germans". 20 The prosecution later asserted that at these meetings " hatred was stirred in every manner against the Reich" 21 At the meeting on Thursday, November 19th, 1942 all the participants were arrested by the Gestapo "It was a Thursday circle that I attended for the first time with my mother. We turned up at around 8 to 8.30 p.m. and already a lot ofpeople were there. The Gestapo opened the door and said 'We've been waiting just for you'. We were arrested and taken to the political department where we were treated worse than murderers and criminals. " 22 The same evening, the Gestapo in Vienna arrested Marianne's sister Rosi. "My mother knew that she was involved in helping Jewish refugees to escape from Prague and the meaning ofthe money she handed to them when they got to Vienna. We learnt that Marianne had been arrested the same day in Prague and that she was to be put on trial. " 23 Marianne describes how she was arrested: "Evzenie Synek a Jewish woman, has got me and ten other people on her conscience. She works for the Gestapo. Make sure, Mr. Karel, that the double-act of Mrs. Synek becomes 18 Interview with Frau Ema Steiner on 5. l l .1989. 19 Ema Steiner toe. cit. 20 Letter from Dr. Friedrich Seidl of2. l l.1987. 21 Prosecution statement by the state attorney at the Special German High Court in Prague on May 18th, 1943. Source: Archive of the Ministry of the Interior. Prague 22 Interview with Erna Steiner. n Interview with Erika Haala in July 1987. Excerpt from the NDR documentary film: "One's Own Story- The Letters of Marianne Golz from Prag-Pankratz Prison". deserve!" 24 During her interrogation by the Gestapo. Marianne exonerated the others arrested, as she had said she would do. "She tookfull responsibility and we played the innocent lambs, that happened to have been arrested at one ofher social meetings. After Marianne had stated that we had nathing to do with the whole affair and that we were only chance guests, we were released. " 25 The Court Trial On May 18th, 1943 the trial against Marianne and 17 further persons took place at the Special German High Court in Prague. It was a show-trial that has to be seen in the context of the Nazis' defeat at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942/43. With this defeat the tide of the war turned against Nazi Germany. The judiciary was assigned with the task to clamp down with all means possible on any form of resistance within the Reich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The trial and the ruling speak a clear language; it was intended to set an example. "Since 1940, the accused Golz-Goldlust was friends with Goldschmidt and often visited him. At his apartment she got to know Zapotecky. She learnt that he helped Jews to illegally cross the borders of the Protectorate. To avoid deportation Goldschmidt fled to Vienna. About two weeks later. the accused Golz-Goldlust received a phone call from her sister Haafa , who told her that Goldschmidt had turned up. Subsequently several letters were exchanged between the two ... Subsequently Golz-Goldlust advised 1he Kuhnel 10 approach Zapotecky and ask him for help crossing the border. Zapotecky states that Kuhnel handed Golz-Goldlust 20.000 Czech Crowns and asked her to trarzsfer them in small amounts to her sister Rosi Haala in Vienna. Goldschmidt had been informed by Golz-Goldlust ofthe immanent arrival ofKuhnel in Vienna. Kuhnel emphasises that Golz Goldlust recommended Zapotecky and also gave him Ztipotecky's office address and telephone number. ... Golz-Goldlust is third time married Her present husband is absolwely Jewish (Volljude). Among her two former husbands was a further Jew. It is obvious that Golz-Goldlust, owing to several marriages with Jews, is mentally utterly 'Jew-ridden 1 (verjudet), has friendly ties to Jews, half-Jews and friends of Jews. This proves the point that Golz- 24 Letter from Marianne to R.Karel, the prison photographer at Pankraz, on October 5th, 1943, (three days before her execution). "Zaluji" loc. cit.. " Interview with Ema Steiner. avoiding state measures aimed at them through aiding their illegal emigration." And further on: 11 Golz-Goldlusr is a very different racial category. She has mixed with great agility and diligence in Jewish circles and has involved herself in the cause ofher Jewish and half-Jewish friends. She did not act under pressure but from an inner convic1ion. Her desire lO please her Jewish friends fits her aggressive approach towards 26 the National Socialist state." • Among the 18 accused, Marianne and 9 other defendants were sentenced on May 18th, 1943 as "saboteurs and aides to enemies ofthe Reich " 27 to death. In June 1943, some of the accused launched an appeal against their death sentences. On July 19th, 1943 Marianne also made an appeal. Senior attorney Dr. Ludwig at the Special German High Court in Prague dealt with the appeals. As far as Marianne was concerned he wrote: "Marianne Golz-Goldlust was sentenced on May 18"', 1943 as a saboteur and enemy ofthe Reich as well as for aiding enemies ofth e Reick She was thus sentenced to death and the loss of all civil rights for life. The special situation in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia make it necessary that the death sentence be implemented. I suggest that no pardon be given and that justice take its due course." 18 On September 21 si, 1943 a further appeal, lodged with the Reich Minister of Justice in Berlin, is rejected. "In the context ofthe court case at the Special German High Court in Prague ofMay 18"', 1943 I have ruled with the consent of the Fuehrer and in agreement with the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia to make no use ofmy right ofpardon as far as those who were sentenced to death are concerned. " 29 The Last Letter "Pankratz, October 5tJi, 1943 Dearest Rosilein! 26 Court ruling of May 25th, 1943. 27 Court ruling of May 25th, 1943. u Letter by state attorney Dr. Zeynek to state anomey Dr. Ludwig at the Spe<:ial Gennan High Court in Prague on June 19th and September 1st, 1943. 29 Letter of the Reich Minister of Justice to the state attorney at the Special German High Court in Prague on September 23rd, 1943. Source: Archive of the Ministry of the Interior, Prague. (() down as a hero. Please don't cry! Death is something very common here. Life, apart from the last two hours, was wonderful. Till the last moment every one here loved me a lot. Till the last moment I was happy. I have done everything possible that one day my death be revenged. I remain in your memory and near to you. I kiss you Marianne 11 30 Marianne's Death "Prague III, October B1h, 1943 To the Attorney General at the Special German High Court in Prague Re: Sentence against Zapotecky and others The court ruling against Marianne Golz-Goldlust was implemented on October 8th, 1943 at 4.44 p.m. The procedure was as follows: 1.) Between the presentation ofthe condemned and the handing over to the executioner: 3 seconds. 2.) From handing over to implementation: 6 seconds. There were no occurrences. 1 11 31 Rehder-Knospel, 1s . State Attorney. 45 Years Later On June 9th, 1988 Marianne Golz-Goldlust was posthumously awarded the "Medal of the Righteous of the Nations" by the Board of Yat Vashem, Jerusalem. ln her honour an olive tree (sapling No. 806) was planted at Yad Vashem Memorial Centre on November 28th, 1988. Epilogue What happened to the involved judges Albrecht and Hartmann and the state attorneys Ludwig und von Zeynek after the war? 30 "Zaluji" toe.cit. 31 Letter of the state attorney at the Special Gennan High Court in Prague on. October 8th, 1943. Source: Archive of the Ministry of the Interior, Prague. Between December 18th, 1955 and January 2"d, l 961 he was a member of the CDU- /{ Faction in the state legislature of the Saarland. After his activities in Prague became public, he was ousted from the CDU-Faction on December 6th, 1958. Dr. Robert Hartmann (•I.7.1901 in Heilberscheid) took up the post of senior judge in Koenigswinter. Dr. Franz L udw ig (*7.4.1899 in Mainz) became a state attorney in Duesseldorf. Dr. Wolfgang Zeynek (* 30.9.1908 in Prague) became a state judge in Nuremberg. Alois Weiss(* 16.10.1896 in Ruma, Croatia), the executioner, lived without court triaJ in Regensburg. 32 32 "Verbrecher in Richterroben"(Criminals in Judges Robes), Orbis-Publishers, Prague 1960.